Trump threatens 'Little Rocket Man,' says Kim may 'not be around much longer'

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Trump sends Twitter threat to 'Little Rocket Man' President Trump sent a tweet directed at North Korea, saying that if the country's foreign minister was speaking for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his threatening speech at the United Nations, "they won't be around much longer."

President Trump sent another belligerent tweet directed at North Korea Saturday night, saying that if the country's foreign minister was speaking for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in his threatening speech at the United Nations, "they won't be around much longer."

"Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N.," Trump tweeted. "If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"

Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017

The president was referring to a speech by North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, earlier Saturday in which he called Trump “a mentally deranged person full of megalomania” who is holding “the nuclear button.”

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Ri said by repeatedly calling Kim "Rocket Man," Trump is making "our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more."

The foreign minister also said Trump is a "gambler who grew old using threats, frauds and all other schemes to acquire a patch of land." Ri jumped into the nickname game as well, saying Americans call Trump the "Commander in Grief," "Lyin' King," and "President Evil."

Trump has turned the White House "into a noisy marketing place" and is making the U.N. "a gangsters’ nest where money is respected and bloodshed is the order of the day," Ri added.

In North Korea, a huge crowd gathered Saturday in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square for a large anti-U.S. rally. A parade of marchers carried signs with slogans such as “decisive revenge” and “death to the American imperialists.” They shouted phrases such as “total destruction,” according to the Korean Central News Agency, the state news service.

U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and F-15 jets carried out a show of force Saturday off the coast of North Korea. It was the farthest point north of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea, that any U.S. fighter or bomber aircraft has flown in the 21st century.

Trump has been engaged in an escalating war of words with North Korea and its leader over the communist nation's accelerating nuclear weapons program and its threat to attack the U.S. and its neighbors.

Last week, Trump said, "Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime" and threatened to "totally destroy" North Korea. Kim responded by calling Trump a "frightened dog" and a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard."

Contributing: Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

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