U.S. President Donald Trump answers question from Reuters reporters Steve Holland, Jeff Mason and James Oliphant as White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders listens during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis
Reuters: Exclusive: Trump says 'most likely' to meet North Korea's Kim again
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he would “most likely” meet again with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, while defending his efforts to convince Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
In an interview with Reuters, Trump, who held a landmark summit with Kim on June 12, said he believed North Korea had taken specific steps toward denuclearization, despite widespread doubts about Kim’s willingness to abandon his arsenal.
While insisting that “a lot of good things are happening” with North Korea, Trump complained that China was not helping as much as it had in the past because of its trade dispute with the United States.
Trump, who faced the North Korean challenge as soon as he took office in January 2017, said he had only been working on the North Korean issue for three months whereas his predecessors had been working on it for 30 years.
“I stopped (North Korea’s) nuclear testing. I stopped (North Korea’s) missile testing. Japan is thrilled. What’s going to happen? Who knows? We’re going to see,” he said.
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WNU Editor: I can see this meeting happening in the new year.
A lot of diplomatic junk and trash has been piling up in DC ever since the end of the Cold War. Pure inertia kept it in place. Trump was elected to take out the trash.
ReplyDeleteEurope, Turkey, North Korea, China, Middle East all got used to dumping their garbage in DC, Trumps having none of it and those other countries don’t like it.
I don't see Trump meeting Kim again. Kim won't denuke and China won't allow a military solution. So, North Korea will be a full fledged nuke power and Trump can't be seen with Kim on more pictures... He lost that battle because his hands are tied and everyone knows it
ReplyDelete"He lost that battle because his hands are tied and everyone knows it." Very respectfully the facts on the ground and the actions by those in the region do not support such a claim as we "lost" and "everyone knows it."
ReplyDelete1.)While there have been breaches in the sanctions, I would liken it to someone losing 50% or more of their income, the sanctions are still in place. 2.)The diplomatic initiative enjoys about 80% approval in South Korea leading in large part to the leadership being reelected in what we would know as a "landslide." Nothing to undermine the efforts have happened since then. So I would anticipate such sky high approval ratings are still in place. 3.)Japan recently lowered their alert level with regards to North Korea. 4.)One of our generals who is on the ground involved with the situation recently described events as "moving in the right direction." 5.)Top officials from South Korea and North Korea are getting ready to meet again for a so called "Summit." If everyone on both sides already knew we had "lost," they wouldn't bother. 6.) Trump holds open a possibility of another meeting. Observe his management style. It does not allow for much wasted motion. If progress were not being made, such a meeting would not be listed as "more than likely."
When confronted with a media talking point or the words and actions of those on the ground directly involved, whom do we trust? I think experiential common sense would say those on the ground hold more creditability. Add to this the fact that the media doesn't exactly have a stellar track record of late.
While we may still "lose" the notion that "everyone knows it" doesn't hold credibility. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case. It appears those in the region are betting on success with this endeavor. As of right now, the main sticking point seems to be not whether North Korea will de nuke but how quickly.
"Trump can't be seen with Kim on more pictures..." Why not? By agreeing to pictures during the last "summit" Kim, North Korea, and by extension China gave international credibility to the American position that had never been extended before. By getting this meeting Trump increased our international standing and prestige exponentially. If the opportunity for another face to face meeting is in the offing, it would make no sense not to have it. In doing so, one would appear petty and this would risk undoing all that we accomplished from the first meeting. Of course with that said what needs to be accomplished can probably be done without face to face meetings.