President Donald Trump made remarks about sex trafficking and forced prostitution on the Korean peninsula, but the term he chose shocked many and sparked questions about his mental state.
Speaking to South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Trump talked about "comfort women," a term from just before and during World War II, in which the Japanese government trafficked women, girls, and boys into its occupied territories to satisfy soldiers, according to History.com.
The movement began in 1932 and lasted until 1945. Scholars estimate that there could be anywhere from 20,000 to nearly 500,00 women and children who were trafficked into sex slavery, abused, raped, and infected with venereal disease. The term comes from a Japanese word that literally translates to "comforting, consoling woman," said the Association for East Asian Studies.
"The whole issue of the women. Comfort women. Very specifically. We talked and that was a very big problem for Korea, not for Japan. Japan was, wanted to go, they want to get on. But Korea was very stuck on that," Trump said.
The comments prompted questions from observers, given Trump’s past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from numerous women.
The cultural marketing company, Mallination, formerly Warner Music, posted on X, "Finally a topic he knows something about."
Actress Morgan Fairchild exclaimed, "OMG!"
"Interesting that this happens to be one of the few historical events that @realDonaldTrump seems to actually know something about," quipped Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway.
"Comfort women? Dude is def on the way out, haven’t heard that term in conversation since the 60s," asked one videographer.
"This is the systematic rape of women and girls he shrugs off," remarked Doug McNamara, a plaintiffs' attorney in consumer, drug, and product defect cases.
See the clip below or at the link here.