U.S. President Donald Trump often sounds more desperate for a deal than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The latest example came on Monday, when Trump insisted that North Korea had not tested ballistic missiles earlier this month — contradicting not only his own national security adviser but also the prime minister of Japan.
After some speculation about Kim's motivation, Trump doubled down on an earlier tweet. "All I know is that there have been no nuclear tests," he said. "There have been no ballistic missiles going out, no long-range missiles going out."
There are good reasons to worry about this. It's indefensible for Trump to tweet out Kim's dim view of former Vice President Joe Biden's intelligence. And it almost goes without saying that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton are in a better position than Trump to assess North Korea's missile tests.