Trump is letting Kim Jong Un do almost anything he wants

In just the past week, North Korea has unveiled a brand new submarine that could potentially launch nuclear weapons and tested two short-range missiles that gravely threaten US allies South Korea and Japan.

The casual observer might understandably expect President Donald "fire and fury" Trump and his hawkish administration to respond forcefully to these new provocations. But the opposite has happened: They’re taking the barrage with a degree of calm virtually unseen before from this administration.

In fact, they’re actively downplaying — and in some cases even defending — North Korea’s actions.

For instance, on Thursday, Fox News’s Brett Baier asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Kim showing off his shiny new (and potentially extremely deadly) submarine and whether that kind of thing makes it harder to reach a deal with North Korea.

Read the full article and more in Vox.