North Korea's state-run media on Tuesday responded to U.S. President Donald Trump's tweet from two weeks ago about having a bigger nuclear button than leader Kim Jong Un's, The Associated Press reported.
Rodong Sinmun, the ruling party newspaper, said that Trump’s January 3 tweet was the "spasm of a lunatic."
The tweet by Trump followed Kim’s claim that his country has developed the capability to hit the entire U.S. mainland with its nuclear weapons.
“The entire United States is within range of our nuclear weapons, and a nuclear button is always on my desk. This is reality, not a threat,” the North Korean leader said in a televised New Year’s Day speech.
Trump then tweeted in response, “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
In its commentary on Tuesday, Rodong Sinmun said, "The spasm of Trump in the new year reflects the desperate mental state of a loser who failed to check the vigorous advance of the army and people of the DPRK. He is making (a) bluff only to be diagnosed as a psychopath."
The back-and-forth between Kim and Trump has been ongoing for several months as the isolated country has continued to carry out missile and nuclear tests, in defiance of international pressure and United Nations resolutions.
North Korea recently launched a Hwasong-15 missile, a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) which officials said can fly over 13,000 km (8,080 miles).
Pyongyang said following that launch as well that that it had test-fired its most advanced missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range, and also declared itself to be "a responsible nuclear power".
AP noted that Rodong Sinmun also recently ran a story about the book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," which casts the president as a leader who doesn't understand the weight of his office and whose competence is questioned by aides. Trump and other White House officials have blasted it as inaccurate.
The title of the book comes from a Trump quote about North Korea.
The book's sales reflect "rapidly surging anti-Trump sentiments in the international community," the North Korean article said. "The anti-Trump book is sweeping all over the world so Trump is being massively humiliated worldwide."
The book's popularity "foretells Trump's political demise," it concluded.
Previously, the ruling party newspaper threatened the United States with a “merciless strike”.