Monday, May 21, 2018

Is The Trump - Kim Summit Dead?



Daily Mail: Trump is asking advisers and foreign allies if he should call off his summit with North Korea after Kim's dramatic change of tone

* Trump is considering backing out the summit over the increasing likelihood that scheduled talks will turn into an embarrassment for him
* Kim Jong-un is demanding concessions and threatening not to go to Singapore on June 12 for planned talks
* Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin told DailyMail.com on Monday morning that for now the summit is still on
* 'I don't think the president gets cold feet about anything,' Mnuchin said

President Trump is considering backing out of a summit with North Korea over the increasing likelihood that scheduled talks will turn into an embarrassment for him.

Trump is said to have been weighing the way forward privately, surveying aides and discussing the optics of Kim Jong-un's own threats to cancel the June 12 meeting with South Korea's Moon Jae-in, according to the New York Times.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told DailyMail.com on Monday morning that for now the summit is still on.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: South Korean President Moon will be arriving late tonight to meet President Trump tomorrow .... Moon to head to U.S. for talks on upcoming U.S.-N. Korea summit (Yonhap), and I am sure he is going to try to convince President Trump to not do this .... Trump willing to walk away from North Korea summit: Pence (Reuters). But the problem for South Korean President Moon is that it is the North Koreans themselves who have made the decision to break ties with him .... a troubling development because the main reason why President Trump is going to Singapore next month to meet Kim Jong-Un is to build upon the understanding that both Korean leaders agreed to when they held their talks at the DMZ last month. Is the DMZ understanding/agreement dead .... I now have to say yes. Hence why should President Trump go to Singapore?

Because of this uncertainty .... and the numerous mixed messages from North Korea .... if I was in the White House I would be advising President Trump that more time and discussions are needed before the Korean peace process can proceed, and that the summit should be delayed at a later date. And even though the Chinese are telling him to go .... the smart move would be to stay. But if he wants to take a chance and roll the dice .... and be like Anwar Sadat when he flew into Israel 40 years ago to enter into peace talks with Menachem Begin .... this will be his opportunity to make history. My prediction .... President Trump is one who believes that "fortune favors the bold" .... his gut is probably telling him to go to Singapore.

More News On The U.S. Korean Summit

With North Korea summit on shaky ground, Trump to press South Korean leader -- Reuters
Trump aides growing skeptical of Kim summit as South Korea's President visits -- CNN
Trump to China: Lock down your border with North Korea until after I cut a nuclear deal with Kim Jong-Un -- Daily Mail
Trump presses China on North Korea border ahead of summit -- Reuters
North Korea denounces defectors, ignores calls from South -- UPI
More than 80 percent of Americans unsure about Trump, Kim summit -- UPI
Can the ‘dealmaker’ president deliver on North Korea? -- Catherine Lucey and Zeke Miller, AP
North Korean bluster prompts Trump to take steps to avoid summit embarrassment -- Seattle Times/New York Times

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Trump goes to Singapore under the current circumstances (that is if nothing else happens before hand) and Kim is a no show, it would be an enormous loss of face for Kim. Kim may not be rational, which is something people in the West seem to be taking for granted.
JH

fazman said...

One can hope

Anonymous said...

fazman,
Yeah, one can hope, but as far as that guy being sane/rational, I don't know and I don't think anyone else does either. Which makes the current wisdom "well if we do this then, a rational person would......" a very iffy proposition.