President Trump escalated his war of words with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday evening, asserting that his "nuclear button" is "much bigger & more powerful" than the North Korean leader's and threatening that the U.S. arsenal "works." 
 
 Trump was responding to Kim's annual New Year's Day speech on Monday, during which the North Korean leader boasted that the United States is "within the range of our nuclear strike and a nuclear button is always on the desk of my office." 
 
 Trump said in his Tuesday tweet, "North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" 
 
 North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018 
 
 The exchange represents a ratcheting up of rhetoric, after Trump in recent months had adopted a measured approach to North Korea — relative to last summer, when he warned of "fire and fury" — at the urging of his national security team. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, however, Trump revived his derisive nickname for Kim — "rocket man" — in response to signs of relaxed tensions between South Korea and North Korea. South Korea agreed to an offer from North Korea for the two countries to talk ahead of next month's Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Kim said in his Monday address that he was willing to send a delegation of North Korean athletes to the Olympics. 
 
 
 
 President Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Dec. 20, 2017. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) 
 
 [South Korea bets that talks with North could pay off] 
 
 In his Tuesday tweet, Trump wrote: "Sanctions and 'other' pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not — we will see!" 
 
 Sanctions and “other” pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not - we will see! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2018 
 
 Trump's North Korea comments came on a busy day of tweeting for the president, who called for the Justice Department to prosecute and perhaps jail Hillary Clinton adviser Huma Abedin and former FBI director James B. Comey; threatened to strip funding for the Palestinians; encouraged protesters in Iran; took credit for the safety record of commercial airlines; and attacked the news media. ||||| North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! ||||| HONG KONG — President Trump’s tweet Tuesday taunting the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un over the relative strength of the two nations’ nuclear arsenals set off a torrent of concern on Twitter — and a few jokes about masculine preoccupation with size. 
 
 Noting that North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, had claimed that a “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,” Mr. Trump tweeted that he had his own such button, one that was “much bigger & more powerful.”
– President Trump fired back at Kim Jong Un's claim to have a nuclear button on his desk by telling the North Korean leader that his button is bigger—and more functional. Kim "just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,'" Trump tweeted Tuesday. "Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump, who appears to be stepping up his rhetoric against Pyongyang after months of relatively restrained remarks, also brought back his "Rocket Man" nickname for Kim earlier Tuesday, the Washington Post reports. The reaction on social media ranged from shock that Trump was treating the prospect of nuclear war so blithely to delight that Trump was attacking Kim and upsetting "snowflakes" at the same time, the New York Times reports. Some—including CNN host Brian Stelter—argued that Trump might be having some kind of meltdown, or argued that Twitter should shut down his account for violating its terms of service. Others noted that Trump doesn't actually have a big nuclear button on his desk—to launch a nuclear strike, he would have to use a briefcase known as the "nuclear football." (Relations between North Korea and South Korea, meanwhile, may be improved by the Winter Olympics in the South next month.)