Monday, June 11, 2018

President Trump Will Be Returning Early To Washington From The Singapore Summit



WNU Editor: AP is reporting the following right now .... US says NKorea talks moving quickly, Trump to leave early (AP). So why the early departure .... when President Trump told everyone a few days ago that if the talks were proceeding well he would stay an extra day? Also .... Reuters is reporting that Kim Jung-un will be leaving Singapore early .... Trump, Pompeo positive ahead of North Korean summit; officials meet to close differences (Reuters). So why the early departures? My guess is that the diplomats have come to an agreement on the main principles that are on the agenda .... and there is no need for either President Trump or Kim Jong-un to sit down and square the differences. Hence tomorrow's meeting will essentially be a meet and greet discussion .... plus a lot of pictures for the press.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

WNU,
I think you're right or they've got nothing and have decided they can't get anything. Whatever Pompeo does in the next 36 hrs will indicate what really happened.
JH

Anonymous said...

It is foolish to think 36 hours will determine the future. Experts in such things suggest that a lot more needs to be dealt with, details that are very important and need going over carefully and agreed upon etc...

Anonymous said...

I got no clue on how to read the tea leaves, it is so much like the summits back in the 1970's and early 1980's.
Given the advance work that has gone into this summit I just can't see the result being bad for both sides. A win in my book is NK releasing more prisoners, an accounting of the Japanese kidnapped over the past decades, US prisoner accounting since 1953, a continuing freeze on missile and nuclear weapons tests and an agreement for continuing face to face meetings. That seems a bare minimal work product and achievable.

Anonymous said...

I'm expecting to see a map of steps that lead to a reduction of sanctions on NK and then a path for development funds. Pompeo and DT are not going to give them that for little concessions like prisoner releases. I'm also expecting to see a timetable for these steps. On top of those big matters I expect to see some feel good confidence building announcements. A formal end to the Korean War could fill that bill.

jimbrown said...

whatever works. it may have been all teed up just waiting for leaders to chow their cheeseburgers together.

B.Poster said...

While we cannot "know" what is actually happening without inside information in real time, we can make inferences based upon available information.

As such, tentatively I conclude, at present, based upon this article that the negotiations are going well. If they were not, I'd expect POTUS to be using terms like "maximum pressure" when discussing this. I didn't see that when reading the article. In fact, I saw the opposite.

With that said I find it fascinating that two smart people can analyze the same data at the same time and under the same conditions yet reach different conclusions!! As such, my "take" could be all wrong!!

I did find of interest the AP article blames Trump entirely for the "blow up" at the G-7 meeting completely failing to evaluate the context or how the actions of others contributed to this. The article goes on to suggest that POTUS used this to try and look tough going into the NK Summit.

I think the opposite is true. I think the other G-7 leaders specifically the "western" ones sought to use this meeting as a platform to undercut POTUS , his team, and by extension America during these negotiations. Was this out of pettiness, malice, or some combination? I do not know. Regardless, not good!!

Was the Canadian PM a willing participant acting out of malice or pettiness or was he a pawn? Judging by the reactions of team Trump it appears they interpret this as malice all the way around. Regardless, not good!! "Blow back" is highly likely which may not be good for anyone.

Actually the speed of the negotiations does not surprise me. America MUST have peace and progress MUST be made. No doubt POTUS and his team are aware of this. As such, our side is thoroughly prepared on the issues and is HIGHLY motivated to negotiate in good faith. As for the other side, I'm not sure. Tentatively I cautiously like what I'm seeing. If they aren't, there are other options we might pursue. Of major concern are unscrupulous elements in America who will try and undermine the peace process.