Trump says Melania ‘got to know’ North Korea’s Kim, driving Twitter fact checkers crazy

US President Donald Trump has again driven the internet to the brink of madness, suggesting during a press conference that the First Lady had met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The sharpest ‘fact-checkers’ came out in droves.

Speaking off the cuff to reporters at the close of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France, the US president launched into an aside about the leader of North Korea, “a man with a country that has tremendous potential,” and mused that the First Lady had also gotten to know him well. There was just one problem: Melania Trump has never met Kim Jong-un.

Within minutes, fact-checkers across social media were on the case, immediately informing the president and the public that the First Lady had, in fact, never accompanied her husband on any trips to the Hermit Kingdom and that she couldn’t possibly have met Kim. Another case handily solved!

The White House was also quick to catch the error, however, and soon issued a clarification explaining that the president simply meant that the FLOTUS got to know Kim by way of his highly descriptive stories about him, which were so rich in detail that the First Lady felt like she actually met him herself.

“President Trump confides in his wife on many issues including the detailed elements of his strong relationship with Chairman Kim – and while the First Lady hasn’t met him, the president feels like she’s gotten to know him too,” said White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who also served as the First Lady’s communications director.

At the end of the day, it appears the president may have merely misspoken, kicking off the latest teapot tempest online.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!