A sunny round of golf, double hamburgers for lunch, ringside seats at a sumo wrestling "basho" and a barbeque dinner. Those were the components of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest bid to become President Donald Trump's best global friend. CNN's Boris Sanchez reports.
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WASHINGTON — North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump agree in their criticism of former Vice President Joe Biden, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Sunday during an exclusive interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Speaking from Japan, where she is accompanying the president, Sanders defended Trump for evoking North Korea's criticisms of the Democratic presidential hopeful.
And she accused the Obama administration of creating “messes” in places like North Korea that Trump has had to clean up.
“I think they agree in their assessment of former Vice President Joe Biden,” she said of Trump and Kim.
“The president doesn't need somebody else to give him an assessment of Joe Biden. He's given his own assessment a number of times. I think you've seen it. I'm sure you've covered it on your program. The president watched him and his administration with President Obama fail for eight years.”
She said Trump has "cleaned up a lot of the messes that were left behind. We shouldn't even be in the position that we're in to have to deal with North Korea at the level we are if they had done their job in the first place."
"They failed with Iran, they failed with North Korea, they failed on trade," she said, "And we finally have a president that's being tough with these countries. We've put tougher sanctions on North Korea than the Obama administration ever did. But at the same time the president wants to develop that relationship."
Biden has come under increasing criticism from the president since he announced his candidacy last month. On Saturday, Trump responded to concerns over recent North Korean missile tests, saying he is confident in his relationship with Kim and seeming to support the foreign leader's criticism of Biden.
The North Korean Central News Agency, which is run by the state, has taken an increasingly hostile tone towards Biden in recent days, with rhetoric scaling more hostile as Trump increases his own criticism of his potential 2020 challenger.
A report from May 21 pans Biden as “reckless and senseless, seized by ambition for power,” as well as a “fool of low IQ.”
Biden campaign spokesperson Andrew Bates responded to both the North Koreans and Trump in a statement from earlier this week, arguing “given Vice President Biden's record of standing up for American values and interests, it’s no surprise that North Korea would prefer that Donald Trump remain in the White House."
“As Vice President Biden said in Philadelphia, Donald Trump 'embraces dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jung Un' while alienating our closest allies. That is antithetical to who we are and it has to change,” Bates said.
During her Sunday interview, Sanders echoed the president’s statements about North Korea’s recent weapons tests that came months after a February summit between the two leaders ended with no deal.
On Saturday, national security adviser John Bolton said that the missile tests were a violation of U.N. resolutions, a statement Trump appeared to downplay in his public tweet.
But despite the lack of an agreement to denuclearize the peninsula, Sanders said that good has still come from the attempt to “develop” the relationship between the two countries.
“There have been steps that have moved us towards. For a significant period of time there was no missile testing. We got hostages back home to the United States and remains of American war heroes. I don't know how you can say that that's nothing,” she said.
"To me, that is certainly something. And I know it's something to the families of those individuals who those people came back home.”
A sunny round of golf, double hamburgers for lunch, ringside seats at a sumo wrestling "basho" and a barbeque dinner. Those were the components of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's latest bid to become President Donald Trump's best global friend. CNN's Boris Sanchez reports.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sarah Elizabeth SandersLive coverage: House panel moves forward with Barr contempt vote Mueller's facts vs Trump's spin Trump says he was called 'the greatest hostage negotiator this country has ever had' MORE Sanders said on Sunday that President Trump
Donald John TrumpPapadopoulos on AG's new powers: 'Trump is now on the offense' Pelosi uses Trump to her advantage Mike Pence delivers West Point commencement address MORE and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
Kim Jong UnTrump says 'I have confidence' after past North Korea missile tests Trump aide: North Korean missile tests violated UN resolutions North Korea: Nuclear talks with US won't resume without new approach MORE "agree in their assessment" of former Vice President Joe Biden
Joe BidenJames Carville: Biden represents 'stability' not 'generational change' Trump's misspelling of Biden's name trends on Twitter Trump says 'I have confidence' after past North Korea missile tests MORE, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.
"I think they agree in their assessment of former Vice President Joe Biden," Sanders said on NBC's "Meet The Press." "Again, the president's focus in this process is the relationship he has and making sure we continue on the path towards denuclearization."
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Host Chuck Todd
Charles (Chuck) David Todd'Saturday Night Live' ponders what it would take for Republicans to turn against Trump Chuck Todd presses Giuliani on whether Trump is 'truthful' Giuliani: 'Nothing wrong' with campaign taking information from Russians MORE pressed Sanders on what "message" Trump is sending by taking Kim's words about his potential 2020 challenger.
"The president doesn't need somebody else to give him an assessment of Joe Biden," Sanders responded. "He's given his own assessment a number of times."
Sanders's remarks come after North Korea’s KCNA news agency published a commentary piece excoriating Biden.
“He is self-praising himself as being the most popular presidential candidate. This is enough to make a cat laugh,” the agency wrote.
The news outlet went on to belittle Biden as a “fool of low IQ,” citing his college grades and disparaging him for falling asleep at a 2011 speech by former President Obama.
Biden's campaign responded, saying it was "no surprise" that North Korea "would prefer" Trump in the oval office.
On Sunday, Trump tweeted that he "smiled" when Kim referred to Biden as a "low IQ individual."
North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me. I have confidence that Chairman Kim will keep his promise to me, & also smiled when he called Swampman Joe Biden a low IQ individual, & worse. Perhaps that’s sending me a signal?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 26, 2019
President Trump is accustomed to congratulating sports stars in the United States. But no president before him has ever presented a championship trophy to a sumo wrestler in Japan.
Trump on Sunday awarded a giant, eagle-topped “President's Cup” to wrestler Asanoyama, a 25-year-old athlete who clinched a tournament win a day earlier.
The president -- the first American to participate in the tournament -- then congratulated Asanoyama on his “outstanding achievement.”
JAPAN WRESTLING WITH TRUMP GOING TO SUMO DURING STATE VISIT
President Trump presents the "President's Cup" to the Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament winner Asanoyama, at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium, on Sunday, in Tokyo. (Associated Press)
Then, with a little help, Trump handed the heavy cup to the champ. The White House said the 54-inch-high trophy weighs 60 to 70 pounds.
Asanoyama, whose real name is Hiroki Ishibashi, weighs 390 pounds, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier, Trump sat ringside and watched some wrestling action, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie – along with a crowd of about 11,500 wrestling fans.
President Trump attends the Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Ryogoku Kokugikan Stadium, on Sunday, in Tokyo. First lady Melania Trump is at top right. (Associated Press)
The size of the crowd was half the normal capacity, as part of security preparations for Trump’s visit, and spectators went through security checks, the Associated Press reported.
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The president is in Japan on a four-day visit that will include meeting Japan’s new emperor and discussing trade issues with the Asian nation’s leaders.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
