Trump's North Korea Tweets Aren't Going To Lead To Nuclear War. Just Stop.
On Tuesday night   an apparently-bored President Trump  took to Twitter to drop some hot takes on North Korea and the media. Hereâs what  he  tweeted  sending the media into paroxysms of orgasmic faux-panic:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the âNuclear Button is on  his  desk at all times.â Will someone from  his  depleted and food starved regime please inform  him  that I too have a Nuclear Button  but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than  his   and my Button works! â Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3  2018
This prompted absolute in-the-background-of-a-Kevin-Bacon-shot-Animal-House-style panic from the mainstream media. John Heilemann stated on Morning Joe on MSNBC that the tweets made  Trump  seem âdemented and deranged.â Jimmy Kimmel stated that âwe have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has the bigger button.â
Itâs not tweets like this that will make a difference to American foreign policy  just as it made no difference in American foreign policy when Reagan joked about nuking the Soviet Union. What would make a difference would be  Trump  signaling friendship or apathy about an unfriendly state making aggressive moves. Those states might feel comfortable going to war  knowing that  Trump  tends to bluff about the use of force anyway. I wrote this back in March 2017:
Words matter. In 1990  U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie reportedly told Saddam Hussein that the U.S. wouldnât intervene if Hussein moved on Kuwait; foreign policy analysts have theorized that these words helped cement Husseinâs decision to invade...when Trumpian conspiracism bleeds over into foreign policy  that has actual consequences abroad. When  Trump  refuses to condemn Vladimir Putinâs human rights record  that matters â it emboldens Putin.
But  Trump  mouthing off about North Korea isnât  him  appeasing states on Twitter. Itâs the opposite. Itâs  him  blustering. That may be off-putting. It may make people uneasy. But itâs not going to lead to nuclear war  so everyone should calm down. The only button on the presidentâs desk orders Diet Coke.
On Tuesday night   an apparently-bored President Trump  took to Twitter to drop some hot takes on North Korea and the media. Hereâs what  he  tweeted  sending the media into paroxysms of orgasmic faux-panic:
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the âNuclear Button is on  his  desk at all times.â Will someone from  his  depleted and food starved regime please inform  him  that I too have a Nuclear Button  but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than  his   and my Button works! â  [TGT] 
This prompted absolute in-the-background-of-a-Kevin-Bacon-shot-Animal-House-style panic from the mainstream media. John Heilemann stated on Morning Joe on MSNBC that the tweets made   [TGT]   seem âdemented and deranged.â Jimmy Kimmel stated that  [TGT]  have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has the bigger button.â
Itâs not tweets like this that will make a difference to American foreign policy  just as it made no difference in American foreign policy when Reagan joked about nuking the Soviet Union. What would make a difference would be   [TGT] signaling friendship or apathy about an unfriendly state making aggressive moves. Those states might feel comfortable going to war  knowing that   [TGT] tends to bluff about the use of force anyway. I wrote this back in March 2017:
Words matter. In 1990  U.S. ambassador to Iraq April Glaspie reportedly told Saddam Hussein that the U.S. wouldnât intervene if Hussein moved on Kuwait; foreign policy analysts have theorized that these words helped cement Husseinâs decision to invade...when Trumpian conspiracism bleeds over into foreign policy  that has actual consequences abroad. When   [TGT] refuses to condemn Vladimir Putinâs human rights record  that matters â it emboldens Putin.
But   [TGT] mouthing off about North Korea isnât   [TGT] appeasing states on Twitter. Itâs the opposite. Itâs  him  blustering. That may be off-putting. It may make people uneasy. But itâs not going to lead to nuclear war  so everyone should calm down. The only button on the presidentâs desk orders Diet Coke.