A few months earlier, North Korea had released a young American named Otto Warmbier from its prisons, returning him to the United States. During a visit to North Korea, Trump explained, Warmbier “was arrested and charged with crimes against the state. “Tonight, we pledge to honor Otto’s memory with American resolve.”Warmbier was a constant in Trump’s rhetoric on North Korea. The brutal treatment of Warmbier, a “young, wonderful man” in Trump’s telling, served as a metaphor for how North Korea and Kim wanted to treat the United States itself. Warmbier was useful as a demonstration of North Korea’s brutality until Trump didn’t want to highlight North Korea’s brutality.

Source: Washington Post February 28, 2019 14:37 UTC