Donald Trump Tweets Mike Pence’s NFL Walkout No Stunt, North Korea Diplomacy Useless

President Donald Trump took to Twitter this morning to defend Veep Mike Pence’s stunt in which he flew to Sunday’s Indianapolis Colts game, then turned around and walked out when several San Francisco 49ers team took a knee during the national anthem.

“The trip by @VP Pence was long planned. He is receiving great praise for leaving game after the players showed such disrespect for country!” Trump tweeted hours after tweeting he’d asked Pence in advance to take a powder if NFL players took a knee during the anthem, odds of which were about 90%, as some players noted afterwards. TV news outlets Monday morning estimated the cost to taxpayers in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

After his departure, Pence had tweeted:”I left today’s Colts game because @POTUS and I will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.”

Trump took credit for the move, saying he’d asked Pence to walk out of any player took a knee on the field during the game, featuring the former team of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who kicked off the kneeling protest in 2016 to draw attention to police dealings with African Americans.

Trump’s tweet:

POTUS also tweet-tacked North Korea this morning, which Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker may use to bolster his claim Trump is so reckless he is setting the country “on the path to World War III.”

It’s a return to the theme of Trump’s weekend tweet that “only one thing will work” in dealing with North Korea.

Corker, a former Trump supporter, who chairs the Senate’s foreign relations committee, told NYT he worries Trump could set the country “on the path to World War III,” describing Trump as acting “like he’s doing The Apprentice or something.”