Who would dare to speak for Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump?

DONALD TRUMP claims that his weekend meeting with Kim Jong Un at the Korean border village of Panmunjom came about thanks to an impromptu invitation issued less than a day before on Twitter (the North Korean dictator “follows” him there, of course). In fact, preparations must have been under way for longer. Yet like everything else about the hour-long get-together, which involved Mr Trump becoming the first serving American president to set foot in North Korea, the social-media invitation seemed designed to heighten the sense of drama and flourish, while the old diplomatic rulebook was tossed aside.

Past presidents, bomber jackets on, went to the demilitarised zone to glower across the world’s most dangerous faultline, as did Mr Trump’s own vice-president, Mike Pence, saying he wanted the North Koreans “to see the resolve in my face”. Mr Trump, in contrast, is always in search of a televised triumph. He does not hold the vileness of Mr Kim against him, even though he has had his uncle, half-brother and many others killed. On the contrary, after three meetings the despot is a firm buddy. Nor does Mr Kim’s nuclear arsenal appear to Mr Trump to be a threat. Since his first clinch with the young dictator at a summit in Singapore just over a year ago, “All of the danger went away.” Like magic.

To the killjoys, not only has...

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