WaPo - Is Trump the bad cop with NKorea? It may not be working

[TomCADem]

I bet Trump and Tillerson are basing their North Korea strategy on the following scene:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/is-trump-the-bad-cop-with-nkorea-it-may-not-be-working/2017/10/02/68e892c0-a7bb-11e7-9a98-07140d2eed02_story.html?utm_term=.28563f4b283e

WASHINGTON — If President Donald Trump and his top diplomat are playing “good cop, bad cop” with North Korea, it doesn’t appear to be working: Entreaties of diplomacy aren’t yielding meaningful talks, and military threats aren’t scaring Pyongyang into halting its nuclear advance.

Instead, America’s mixed messaging may be increasing the risk of miscalculation by the isolated, communist government, which lacks insight into the Trump administration’s thinking and could mistake brinkmanship for an overt threat of war.

Although American military action could invite devastating consequences for its South Korean ally, Trump has threatened to use military options and offered sometimes apocalyptic visions of the North unless it ends its nuclear and missile testing. North Korea has launched intercontinental ballistic missiles that can potentially strike the U.S. mainland and a month ago conducted its largest ever underground nuclear explosion. It has threatened to explode another nuclear bomb above the Pacific.

* * *
Even that appears a remote possibility. Analysts and even governments in between say Trump is making it increasingly difficult for the North to have confidence in any diplomatic effort with the United States, given his threats to demolish a 2-year-old arms control pact with Iran.

[RandySF]

1. Occam's Razor

Trump is an ill-tempered buffoon with a Twitter account.

[PJMcK]

2. Trump's Razor

Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo articulated his theory called Trump's Razor.

When seeking an explanation for the behavior of Presidential "candidate" Donald J. Trump, always choose the stupidest possible explanation.

Trump is an idiot.

[Jamaal510]

3. He appears to have

forgotten that his mission as president is to keep Americans safe, not to act like a playground tough guy and provoke other countries. This more than likely wouldn't have escalated this much if he would have just shut up and continue letting the adults try either the sanctions or negotiations with North Korea.