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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump aides worry he'll get outfoxed in North Korea talks
President Trump is excited to meet Kim Jong Un in Hanoi. Others fear hell give too much away.
By ELIANA JOHNSON 02/22/2019 05:02 AM EST
President Donald Trump is eagerly anticipating his second summit with Kim Jong Un, touting his really meaningful relationship with the North Korean strongman and insisting hes ready to give up his nuclear arsenal.
In Washington, hes pretty much the only one who feels that way.
Many, including several of the presidents top advisers, are less excited. Some have expressed trepidation not only that the summit, scheduled to take place next week in Hanoi, may not yield big results. They worry, too, that Trump, eager to declare victory on the world stage, could make big concessions in exchange for empty promises of denuclearization.
The push for a second summit came almost entirely from the president himself, according to current and former White House officials but Trump remains undeterred. He has gushed about the wonderful letters he has received from Kim, as well as the good rapport he has developed with the North Korean leader and the enormous media coverage the event in Vietnam's capital is likely to attract. Trump even bragged, in a phone call Tuesday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, that he is the only person who can make progress on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, according to a person briefed on the conversation, and complained about negative news coverage he has received.
Inside the administration, concern about the upcoming summit has come from predictable skeptics, including national security adviser John Bolton, a longtime opponent of diplomacy with North Korea, but also from unexpected corners. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the man charged with leading the negotiations, has expressed frustration to allies about the lack of diplomatic progress and voiced concern that his boss will get outmaneuvered, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversations. Other top officials, such as former Defense Secretary James Mattis, simply worked to keep as much distance from the negotiations as possible.
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https://www.politico.com/story/2019/02/22/trump-north-korea-nuclear-summit-hanoi-strategy-1179753
bearsfootball516
(6,377 posts)mitch96
(13,895 posts)Cirque du So-What
(25,932 posts)You're on your own now. Play nice with my new best bud and don't interfere with getting my Nobel Peace Prize..
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)It's already happening. Appetizers - Pompeo and Bolton, both are extremely incompetent . . . so is Kushner and he is heading for the ME.
Main course, dumbass t-rump . . . .
Dessert - The Republicans who will be praises him alongwith the corporate media, i.e. fake new (murdoch), sinclair and hate radio.
NK gets the last laugh all the while strengthen it's arsenal.
NewJeffCT
(56,828 posts)for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and Trump will give him anything he wants
democratisphere
(17,235 posts)Vlad has made an art form of outfoxing drumpf.
The Genealogist
(4,723 posts)durablend
(7,460 posts)maxrandb
(15,324 posts)maxrandb worries Mike Tyson will outfox him during upcoming boxing match
maxrandb worries Corey Kluber will outfox him with a 93 MPH Fastball to the chin.
This is news?
tanyev
(42,552 posts)I think you can count on it.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,328 posts)soryang
(3,299 posts)Hardly an expert on Asian affairs. He is the first administration official who came out in favor of reciprocity. Now he wants to distance himself because of his political ambition.
Bolton, a pathological character, is against any negotiations on principle no matter who the second party is. Not exactly a diplomat.
As for Victor Cha, he stopped just short of recommending war in Korea early in this administration and for that reason wasn't nominated for ambassador to South Korea. I guess he didn't want to go down in history as the Korean American expert who contributed to war in Korea on the record. The foundation that sponsors him CSIS is supported by the big five defense contractors. He's just a millimeter to the left of Bolton.
book_worm
(15,951 posts)All Kim has to do is say, "You're the most brilliant man I've ever meet" and Trump will be putty in his hands.