The celebration of mothers on Mother’s Day, sparked my curiosity regarding questions about two prominent world players: Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, and their relationships with their mothers.
Who are the mother’s of Trump and Jong-un? Here are some observations written by Michael Kruse for Politico Magazine:
“The cultural difference in the two countries is vast. North Koreans can no longer express feelings of affection for their mothers on the country’s Mother’s Day celebration because they have reportedly been banned from writing ‘thank you’ messages on bouquets of flowers given to mark the occasion.
“It is really sad that people have to express thanks to The Father, Kim Jong Un, after every little thing he does, but North Korea cannot express thanks to their actual mothers on Mother’s Day.
Who was Donald Trump’s mother? “Trump’s mother was born Mary Anne MacLeod in the village of Tong, on Scotland’s Isle of Lewis, in 1912. In her late teens, MacLeod boarded a ship for the United States, following three of her sisters; a manifest listed her as a ‘domestic.’ Her childhood there was not easy; the … economy took a hit during World War I.
“In interviews over the past several decades, the president has called her ‘fantastic’ and ‘tremendous’ and ‘very warm’—’a homemaker’ who ‘loved it.’ In 2005, on Martha Stewart’s television show, Trump briefly mentioned his mother’s meatloaf. ‘She used to do a great job,’ he said. On Twitter, he has called her ‘a wonderful person,’ ‘a great beauty’ and not much more. ‘Advice from my mother, Mary MacLeod Trump: Trust in God and be true to yourself.’
“Over the past couple of months, friends and family members described Mary Trump to me as generally ‘tight-lipped’ and ‘conservative,’ but ‘nice,’ ‘friendly,’ and ‘pleasant.’ They called her ‘polished,’ ‘proper,’ and ‘unassuming.’ But her relative trace existence in the president’s own narrative of his life is a reflection of his upbringing in Jamaica Estates, Queens (N.Y.), say boyhood friends and others who came to know him well as an adult. ‘When I would play with Donald,’ said Mark Golding, an early pal, ‘his father would be around and watch him play. His mom didn’t interact in that way.’ That’s the recollection, too, of Lou Droesch, who was buddies with Fred Trump, Jr. and knew his kid brother as a nettlesome tag-along. ‘We rarely saw Mrs. Trump,’ he told me, saying she did sometimes give them money to take him to go get some ice cream. ‘But we did see a lot of the housekeeper.’ This distance, according to a former close business associate and friend, is a dynamic that never changed. ‘Donald was in awe of his father,’ this person said, ‘and very detached from his mother.’
“When Donald Trump moved into the Oval Office in January (2017), he placed on the table behind the Resolute Desk a single family photo, of Fred Trump, his father.
“Trump’s mother, who died in 2000, had in some ways been fading from view for many years before her son on Inauguration Day (January 20, 2017) placed his hand on the Bible he got from her. But to discount her role in the creation of the Trump persona is to disregard decades of study about family dynamics. Trump might not agree, but most psychologists agree: Your mother helps make you who you are,” Kruse wrote.
Who was Kim Jong-un’s mother? The Chosunilbo North Korea reports: “Ko Yong-hui was a North Korean resident of Japan who was born in the Tsuruhashi district of Osaka in 1952. She is believed to have moved to North Korea in her childhood.
“She later gave birth to Kim Jong-un and Kim Yo Jong, who is the North Korean leader’s sister and a senior member of the Workers’ Party of Korea.
“During her visit to Japan, Ko, the mother, participated in the art troupe’s performances in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and other areas of the country.
“The recently-discovered photos of Ko were taken in Japan during her free time between performances. In the photos, Ko is seen dressed in plain clothes and smiling.
“The existence of Ko is believed to have been withheld from the general public in North Korea.
“Atsuhito Isozaki, a Keio University associate professor who is well versed in North Korean politics, said, ‘Even in Japan, there are few photos that show Ko. I never saw any photo showing her expressions in her personal life before.’
“A video clip apparently used to indoctrinate senior military officers shows Ko watching little Kim draw a picture.”
The North Korean propaganda machine has taken to extolling leader Kim Jong-un’s mother, Ko Yong-hui, who died in June 2004.