All of President Trump's 'cookies': 'smart,' 'tough' and even 'dishonest'
Trump likes to use “cookie” when describing people.
-- For President Trump, cookies come in a variety of flavors -- "smart," "tough" and even "dishonest."
And depending on what mood he's in, it may even be a combination, such as "warm, smart [and] tough."
Much like the nicknames that George W. Bush was famous for during his presidency, Trump appears to be fond of applying the moniker "cookie" with various descriptors to world leaders and others.
Trump raised some eyebrows when he called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un a "pretty smart cookie" in an interview with CBS News.
“I can tell you this, and a lot of people don’t like when I say it, but he was a young man of 26 or 27 when he took over from his father, when his father died. He’s dealing with obviously very tough people,” Trump said in the interview.
“A lot of people, I’m sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it,” Trump added. “So obviously, he’s a pretty smart cookie.”
The phrase "smart cookie" along with "tough cookie" was Trump's go-to description during the campaign.
During a October campaign rally in Colorado, Trump said Russia was run by "a very smart cookie," referring to Russian president Vladimir Putin. Trump added that Putin was "much smarter, much more cunning" than President Obama.
"Putin, pretty tough cookie, right?" Trump said to the crowd of supporters gathered at Burlington, Iowa for a October 2015 rally.
He's also referred to himself, his father, Reince Priebus, Winston Churchill, Rudy Giuliani, Roger Stone, Todd Palin, supporters at his rallies, the "guys that formed ISIS," policemen and others as "tough cookies."
"And I think people are maybe a little surprised because I can be a tough cookie," Trump said during a MSNBC interview in October 2015.
Here's what Trump said about:
Lyndon Johnson ("smart cookie": "I respect Lyndon Johnson because he was one smart cookie. But I mean Lyndon Johnson was a major player. He was a very very tough cookie and he was able to silence his critics by doing that. So we’re going to get your voice back." (Nov. 1, 2016, Eau Claire, Wisconsin rally)
Mitt Romney ("warm, smart, tough cookie"): "He's [Romney] a warm, smart, tough cookie and that's what this country needs. We need somebody that's tough, that will stop China and OPEC and all these other nations from just ripping us up. And i think he can do it." (Feb. 3, 2012, on CNN)
Politicians ("dishonest cookies": "Oh that voter fraud, you know these politicians are brutal. They’re brutal. They are brutal. They are a bunch of dishonest cookies, I gotta tell you." (Feb. 3, 2016, Little Rock, Arkansas)
Chris Christie ("tough cookie"): "Christie is the governor of New Jersey but he was the former prosecutor and a tough cookie and I thought honestly, I thought Marco was going to faint." (Jan. 24, 2016, Muscatine, Iowa)
Rally-goer in Ohio ("rough-looking cookie"): "Look at this guy. And I do love him. He's a rough-looking cookie though. I'll tell you. We love -- we have a lot of love. Believe me." (Dec. 1, 2016, Cincinnati, Ohio)
And that's the way the cookie crumbles.