This morning, Mr Trump announced he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus and are now in quarantine. The President, 74, took to Twitter to reveal the news, adding: “We will get through this together,” after one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, also tested positive. It comes just days after Mr Trump and Mr Biden went head-to-head in a fiery debate on Tuesday, which descended into squabbling, bickering and insults.
Mr Trump questioned Mr Biden’s intelligence before Mr Biden called him a clown, telling him to be quiet and asking: “Will you shut up, man?”
But, the pair have not always been at each other’s throats, in fact, Mr Trump even came to his rival’s defence once, telling North Korea its recent description of Joe Biden as a “rabid dog” was a little unfair.
Mr Trump’s criticism of Pyongyang came amid attempts to resurrect stalled nuclear talks, with the President appealing for Kim to “get the deal done”.
He wrote in a tweet: “Joe Biden may be sleepy and very slow, but he is not a ‘rabid dog’.
“He is actually somewhat better than that.”
North Korea had accused Mr Biden of having “the temerity to dare slander the dignity of the supreme leadership”, although the regime did not specify what he had said to provoke its angry response.
A statement by the official KCNA news agency said: “Rabid dogs like Biden can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about.
“They must be beaten to death with a stick.”
There was speculation that Kim was angered over an advert by the Democratic presidential hopeful’s campaign condemning Mr Trump’s foreign policy.
How is Boris Johnson handling the coronavirus crisis? Vote in our poll
The ad said that “dictators and tyrants are praised, our allies pushed aside,” and featured an image of Mr Trump meeting Kim at their first summit in Singapore last year.
Last month, the South Korean ambassador to the US, Lee Soo-Hyuck, said North Korea is likely waiting until after the US elections to reopen negotiations with Washington over its nuclear arsenal.
He said: “I have a hunch that North Korea is waiting for the November election in the United States because we have only two months left until the election.
“After the elections, maybe there will be a chance for the US and North Korea to conduct a negotiation.”
Mr Lee also said Pyongyang, for the time being, has closed the door to dialogue with Seoul.
DON’T MISS
Tehran’s war capability revealed amid tensions with West [ANALYSIS
US soldier risked ‘cataclysmic outcome’ with defection to USSR [COMMENT]
Turkey close to Russia’s grasp amid Trump fury after Venezuela ruling [ANALYSIS]
Since the February 2019 Hanoi Summit failed to reach an agreement, the United States and North Korea have been mired in a diplomatic stalemate with minimal negotiations.
Mr Lee’s comments came after the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said there are no signs North Korea has reprocessed fuel from its main nuclear reactor into plutonium over the past year.
However, Pyongyang appears to still be enriching uranium, which could potentially be used in a nuclear weapon.
Mr Trump has said he will make deals with North Korea “very quickly” if reelected in November.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, said he would not continue Mr Trump’s personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and would focus more on general diplomacy with the Asian nation and isolating its government through sanctions.