The Special Video Trump Showed Kim Jong Un: "A Story Of Opportunity"

Trump and Kim shake hands in Singapore

President Trump shared a video with Kim Jong Un when they met in Singapore on Tuesday. The title of the video, "A Story Of Opportunity For North Korea," was made specifically for Kim and his attending advisors. It's a moving appeal to the leader to grab the reins of history while opportunity presents itself. Watch the video below.

Cleverly presented as if it was a movie trailer, the video speaks directly to Kim about becoming a historic agent of change for good. It is clever for a couple of reasons. First, it's a faux trailer for a non-existent movie. Kim isn't stupid, he undoubtedly got that. Second, a trailer is for a movie that is yet to be seen, and the smart metaphor presented by this video "trailer" is that Kim has an opportunity to help make that exciting film.


The usual crowd of NeverTrumpers and naysayers are criticizing the video as "propaganda." I believe that if pressed, Trump & Company would admit that that's what it is.

But it's propaganda in the same way that a mushy letter to someone you're courting is propaganda: You want them to get excited by the promise of a wonderful future. This was undoubtedly crystal clear to Kim and his people.

North Korea suddenly lights up in this video shared by President
Trump with Kim Jong Un at their Singapore meeting.
(From the White House page on Facebook)

For years, we've all seen satellite images of North Korea, dark next to its brightly lit up neighbor to the south. I think the most clever moment of this video is that image, in which -- through movie magic -- North Korea suddenly lights up as fully as South Korea. That had to strike a nerve with Kim.

According to Real Clear Politics, "The White House appears not to have publicized the video, which was intended for Chairman Kim."  However, the White House did post it to it's Facebook page this afternoon.

"History is always evolving, and there comes a time when only a few are called upon to make a difference," the narrator of the video says. "But the question is — what difference will the few make? The past doesn’t have to be the future. Out of the darkness can come the light, and the light of hope can burn bright."

The video was uploaded to YouTube by Brendan Greenley. He wrote, "This is the English version of the video 'trailer' that President Donald J. Trump showed Chairman Kim Jong Un during their historic summit on 6/12/18. This is a rip from the official White House press conference live stream, where they showed the video to reporters before the President took questions."  Greenley's YouTube posting includes a transcript. Below: English version. See the Korean version here.