Trump Saluted North Korean Normal in 2018?

{A photograph} allegedly displaying then-U.S. President Donald Trump saluting a North Korean navy chief throughout a 2018 summit in Singapore was reshared on social media in mid-2024 throughout the run-up to the November election, wherein Trump is slated to face Democratic incumbent President Joe Biden.

The picture is real. It was captured from video footage aired on North Korean tv on June 13, 2018, when Trump, as president, attended a summit assembly in Singapore with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un.

The complete video reveals Trump being launched to a line of North Korean dignitaries. When he reached out to shake an unidentified normal’s hand, the latter rapidly withdrew his hand and responded as a substitute with a navy salute. Trump respectfully saluted in return.

The considerably awkward change wasn’t caught on movie by Western media sources, however may be seen in a clip tweeted by the BBC:

The footage was a part of a 42-minute propaganda video by Korean Central Tv touting Kim’s “supernormal political acumen” at what it termed “the assembly of the century.” Trump’s salute takes place simply after the 23-and-a-half-minute mark (and he seems to return a salute from the identical navy officer once more once more 36 minutes into the video):

Controversy ensued, in fact — simply because it did when President Barack Obama bowed whereas greeting King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and, later, Emperor Akihito of Japan in 2009. Within the first case, critics accused Obama of displaying obeisance to a international ruler and Islam. Within the second, they known as his conduct “treasonous.”

Critics of Trump’s conduct in Singapore famous that regardless of the pleasant tone of the summit, North Korea continues to be an “adversarial” nation dominated by an authoritarian regime with a protracted historical past of egregious human rights violations.

In a statement issued after the discharge of the North Korea video, retired U.S. Military Main Normal Paul D. Eaton known as Trump’s conduct “wholly inappropriate,” saying, “It’s wholly inappropriate for the commander in chief of our armed forces to salute the navy of our adversary… We should discuss with them, for the sake of avoiding a disastrous conflict. However they haven’t earned the salute of a president.”

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., stated Trump’s salute was disrespectful to American troops:

However at the same time as partisan critics began hauling out stronger epithets like “traitor” and “treasonous,” then-White Home Press Secretary Sarah Sanders made an announcement defending the salute as “a typical courtesy”:

Equally, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told CNN, “Returning a salute just isn’t the identical as saluting somebody. You at all times return a salute given to you.” And Trump himself dismissed the importance of the salute throughout an impromptu interview on the Fox Information Channel’s “Fox & Pals,” saying, “I met a normal. He saluted me and I saluted him again.”

As within the case of Obama’s bowing to international royalty, there seems to be no foundation in legislation or protocol for claiming that Trump’s actions had been unlawful or a breach of presidential etiquette. U.S. navy protocol holds that it’s “customary to salute officers of pleasant international nations when acknowledged as such.” Whereas saluting officers of unfriendly international nations is not explicitly forbidden, we will assume it’s frowned upon — though in any case these protocols do not apply to the commander-in-chief, who, regardless of exercising final authority over the U.S. navy, is by legislation a civilian officer with no navy rank or standing.

Sources