Trump Backs Away From Demand for Immediate North Korean Denuclearization
By Mark Landler
May 22, 2018
WASHINGTON — President Trump opened the door on Tuesday to a phased dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, backing away from his demand that the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, completely abandon his arsenal without any reciprocal American concessions.
The president’s hint of flexibility came after North Korea declared last week that it would never agree to unilaterally surrender its weapons, even threatening to cancel the much-anticipated summit meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump scheduled for next month in Singapore.
Mr. Trump’s statement seemed less a policy shift than an effort to preserve his date with Mr. Kim. But while the gesture may avoid a swift rejection by Mr. Kim, it shows that Mr. Trump is willing to give up what for months has been his bedrock position in dealing with the North. And it demonstrates that three weeks before the June 12 meeting, the White House is still groping for a strategy to negotiate with a reclusive, suspicious nuclear-weapons state.
The scale of North Korea’s program, Mr. Trump said, would make it difficult to dismantle it in a single step. “It would certainly be better if it were all in one,” he said. “Does it have to be? I don’t think I want to totally commit myself.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/22/world/asia/trump-korea-summit.html
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A five-year-old could talk him out of his two scoops of ice cream. The only way Spanky made "deals" in his dodgy real estate business is by bullying, suing and refusing to pay people. He's only now discovering those tactics don't work in international relations. Rocket Man will eat his lunch. 