A person as well versed in extortion and blackmail as Trump should have known better. If you're being blackmailed the first payoff is never the last
7
I don't think anyone has been fooled. For the most part it's the same old same old - except for one huge thing. For the first time ever, the North Koreans have an American President who is cooperating in their game rather than attempting to hinder them.
12
What would you prefer?
A POTUS that fly's around in a gas guzzler at taxpayer expense getting his ego stroked every few days?
Or a POTUS that attends daily security briefings, reads intelligence reports, listens to professionals and doesn't claim to know everything and that everything is so simple?
The choice is yours!
19
I'm surprised so many comments suggest that Trump has been outwitted here. I'm not sure that is the case. Trump sees his true enemy as the Democrats and his opposition within the US. His allies are his supporters that will believe anything he says, including that North Korea has been neutralized by none other than Trump. The American people be damned as long as Trump can gain some talking points to manage his supporters.
6
The concealment is not the reason to discontinue negotiations with North Korea. The alternative can’t be war of words between Trump and Mr. Kim. I had lived through that process as anybody else had.
Continued and thorough negotiation is the only way. For the negotiation to go forward, there must be give and take between the two parties. North Korea gave its promise not to further develop nuclear weapons and put in place peace measures such as dismantling military posts in DMG and establishing peaceful site in Panmunjeom.
Meanwhile the US says that sanctions are continuing until a full disarmament of nuclear arms of North Korea.
Negotiations must be incremental and based on reciprocity.
Declaring peace politically in Korean peninsula can be one stepping stone for full denuclearization of North Korea.
If the US continues to drag its feet and US intellectuals did not give support peace process, South Korean government should take an initiative and go ahead with the process.
The US can’t gain everything in the negotiation. It must compromise as long as the North Korea is denuclearized.
Otherwise North and South Korea go first in the negotiation process.
7
What if Trump is aware of North Korea’s duplicity? What if Trump will use it to start a war with North Korea? Such a war would deflect all the investigations into his corruption, virtually securing his position as the American Strongman that he wants to be.
8
Truly, is anyone surprised at this sequence of events in North Korea?
What would you expect from a president like Donald J Trump, and his lackey Pompeo.
Surely this failure and the Saudi Arabia fiasco and the blundering in the Middle East and the deplorable treatment of our allies, shows the utter unfitness of Trump.
The damage done by this selfish narcissist is staggering!
7
Is this intelligence on North Korea, as genuine as the intelligence on Iraq in 2002 and 2003?
6
What does this all mean?
Is VP Pence's "Libya Model" working or not?
Has Kim been out-smarted brought down by the art of the deal?
And is America's own "very stable genius" going to get a Nobel Prize?
So many questions, no answers.
5
"Mr. President, North Korea has just attacked the United States?"
"Which state?"
"California."
"It's their own fault."
16
So now Trump is the naïve peacenik and the anti-Trumpers are the hard-headed real politics guys. Curioser and curioser. Maybe the Democrats should call in Dick Cheney for advice on how to deal with WMD.
4
You don’t say? Rocket Man is living up to his name, and Trump is playing games with our lives.
Is this making America Great Again?
5
Time is up for the united states to revisit,redraft by few addition and few subtraction in its modus operandi to woo and win the fury or rebellious foreign powers of dubious nature. The world has learned enough lessons and all sorts of strategy of the USA with its NATO allies from WW2 to the middle east of the present. When imposing sanctions on any nation that is not in the good book of Washington has become an order of the day, the nations who are in the list of
the sanctions of US had learned to list toward its adversary. If minus is a sign of deletion or disadvantage provided by the united states to any nation on sanction then I could say, USA has failed to realize that product of many minus have become plus and they learned to live together. Did the USA become a circle in a Red triangle made of China,Russia and North Korea?. USA's Think tank has to do a serious brain storming.
1
As noted here, our intelligence agencies have long known about these hidden bases and their contribution to North Korea's accelerated missile and bomb efforts. Surely our intelligence agencies told Trump and Pompeo about them. Those two, however, have lied to all of us. They have told us repeatedly that the situation was improving. Yes, Kim has played them. But they have also been complicit in the duplicity. Their words and actions are making America less safe. Is there anything these Trump Republicans won't do?
4
How close nuclear apocalypse?
2
Before the WW2, few American leaders imagined Japan had the power of attacking Pearl Harbor to that extent. Note that there were some warning signs in advance, for instance, zero fighters did really a good job against American counterparts in China well before that. Unfortunately, those signs were neglected. I hope history does NOT repeat.
5
Let us not forget what Kim said publicly to his country not long before meeting with Trump. (He did say it in Korean, so Stable Genius and his State Department may not have noticed.) He said that North Korea no longer needed to test either nukes or missiles, which seems to be correct. They had several successful tests of each. He announced that from now on his country would instead concentrate on production of the newly tested models of both.
6
The North Koreans practice deceptive diplomacy. Shocking.
6
Wait a minute. Trump said he fixed this.
9
How about the US agreeing to slowly close and destroy some of our own excessive number of nuclear weapons? Doesn't that seem fair?
4
Could anything be more dangerous to Americans that their President lying about the growing threat posed by North Korea's nuclear arsenal? And lying simply because to inform us that is deceiving us would make his negotiations appear less effective. So, to protect his ego he doesn't want us to know that North Korea is cheating on their promises to denuclearize.
Instead, he attacks and is trying to economically cripple Iran which is complying with the agreement to freeze development of weapons - because that was an agreement negotiated by Obama.
How much danger will Republicans in the House and Senate expose us to until they hold hearing and call out Trump's lies?
Apparently, we didn't get rid of enough of them - this election.
12
The DPRK does not have to demonsrate its warheads's ability to survive reentry. Just the threat is enough. They could fire 60 missiles - only one has to work properly to make the United States pay a terrible price for Trump's hubris, intransigence, and arrogace.
9
how can anyone not blame trump and the republicans?
10
because this entire NK program has been developed from scratch over the past 2 years? oh, no? well then who was in office before trump that also needs to accept part of the blame?
Oh merciful heavens! These are not nuclear silos, they are GRAIN silos, aren't they, the donald?
5
Any wagers that Trump will call this fake news so he doesn't lose face?
11
Trump is deceiving us with his bluster, trying to show beneficial results where there are none. Could he be so vain as to deny the evidence, similar to his flagrant rejection of human-made climate change?
5
So easy to con a conman. For Trump, adulation equals success. Personal praise is progress. If truth fetters you, lie and bow proudly to the happy, ill-informed roar of the crowd. The future counts for nil. Only present obeisance from the minority masses will suffice.
Fake news, indeed!
3
Is this news for anyone? Isn’t this exactly what Trump does, what he has done his entire life: a con, a scam, a life based on continuous and constant lies. Isn’t that what Trump University, Trump steaks, Trump airline, Trump football team, Trump casinos, Trump real estate (how does someone who invested in Manhattan real estate in the 1970’s manage to go bankrupt multiple times) - imagine if Daddy was not there to constantly give him money and bail him out again and again - $442 million. Hype, lies, followed by repeated failures. Donald did succeed in reality TV, world wide wrestling, branding and selling his name, cheating on everyone - wives, business partners, contractors, tax collectors, banks, investors - and becoming President (first attempt at public office/service of any type for him) - says a lot more about us as a nation than about Trump.
So, of course, N. Korea is a scam - exaggerate the problem with pure hyperbole (yes, there is a real threat also), follow up with branding exercise on his personal abilities (which are zero beyond running scams), claim victory in hyperbolic terms even though the reality is just one more Donald failure. Withdraw from Paris Accords (biggest damage to planet), violate Iran nuclear deal, pretend to fix NAFTA by renaming it, tax cut for rich and corporations paid with exploding defecit and debt, vicious, racist lies about immigration, and a hundred other examples. The only remarkable part is that 40-45% of Americans want the con job.
18
Thanks for the recap—it’s important to be reminded again of the many things this despicable man has done.
8
While McConnell focuses on stacking the courts, and the House GOP obsesses over the ACA - Kim, MBS, Netanyahu, Putin, Erdogan and other world leaders play pin the tail on the Trump. Let's hope the game doesn't get out of hand...
8
The only thing that would've been a surprise is if N.Korea actually stopped developing and expanding its' nuclear arsenal. Come on, can they trust Trump? Can they trust America? That arsenal is probably the only thing standing between Kim and a terrible fate. Now, I don't think Kim is crazy. I think he wants a path to greater prosperity for his nation and greater freedom for himself. I can imagine him, one day, enjoying a European ski vacation. But, in order to get there, he has to hold on to some cards. Scary though, when those cards are nukes.
5
President Trump, a member of Those Who Declined to Serve, and who vicariously announced the end of the North Korean threat after a brief lovefest sees no need to be concerned pictures of North Korean bases easily found by commercial satellites. Adding fuel to his lack of concern is the fact that the Air Force and various satellite reconnoisance programs initiated under President Obama remain incomplete after two years under President Trump.
God help us all because this Republican administration appears both uninterested and unable to actually resolve the threat of North Korean missile attacks on South Korea, Japan, or the United States of America.
9
Trump says he is an ace dealmaker but in fact the worlds' leaders have correctly tagged him as a stooge.
I realize the Republican Party expects him to run in 2020, but they'd be smart if they started mounting some challenges to his nomination then starting right now. Save America From Trump and Pence. Please.
13
NK will never give up nuke. In late 1990's 10% NK population (about 2 million) were starved to death of famine, still NK kept developing the nuke, and regime did not fail. Now UN is imposing economic sanction to NK, which as everyone knows will never do any discomfort to Mr. Kim and people around him, but will do a lot of damage to NK people. If a lot of NK people die of famine like 1990's, UN should be dismissed to get replaced by something else that can focus more on human right issues.
2
" North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases,... a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat."
You don`t suspect that Trump is lying do you ? That would be a first.....for this hour.
America , you are better than the Trump-Kushner crime family & their abettors...……… aren`t you ?
4
Why doesn't NY Times disclose the fact that the analysis by the CSIS report is based on satellite photos taken in March of 2018, three months before the Trump's summit with Kim?
This article makes it sound like the report is disclosing something new since the summit, but it isn't. That is what NY Times should write about. Ask CSIS why they are using old photos and pretend as if they found something new. Please ask CSIS what agenda they have.
4
Even so, it’s further proof that the current administration’s ersatz diplomacy is doing nothing to improve the situation.
1
@Bob The photos say “March 29, 2018” right on them. What additional “facts” does the average reader need to understand that the photos were from March 2018? Seems pretty obvious to me.
1
@Bob I would not be surprised if it took several months to analyze the photos. They probably had to scan the entire country, using computer and likely human interpretation of the structures and possible uses.
Nice try on the conspiracy theory, Robert.
5
Without spending another penny on weapons of war the US has the military capability to destroy North Korea a thousand times over, and everyone understands that fact. Consequently, the only possible reason for North Korea to start a war would be to commit national suicide and that is not their goal. Therefore, the American homeland and its residents are not in danger of being harmed by a nation-state war, but they are in the gravest danger from wildfires, floods, addiction, disease and terrorism; preventing and minimizing these authentic dangers is where the nation's treasure should be spent, not on more weapons of mass destruction which are not needed and will never be used.
If we can send spacecraft to the planets and fire rockets that can hit any point on the globe, we can develop the technology to shoot enough water to extinguish wildfires any place on earth, and we can marshal the means to prevent floods, addiction and disease. It's self-evident that those are the areas that pose the greatest authentic danger and they should have the top priority, not so-called national defense which is by far the strongest in all the world.
9
President Trump has said the NK nuclear threat was diminishing, but has also held out the promise that if Kim Jong-un backs out of his prior stances on de-nuclearization, sanctions that might have one day been lifted will likely be increased.
Kim Jong-un cannot win this contest of wills. Any implied or inferred notion that our President has been naive ignores the fact that we have all been deceived.
It's not admirable for anyone to label idiotic actions by North Korea as a sign that America has in any fashion failed in this matter.
Just three hours ago, I engaged in an impassioned discussion with a Trump supporter who finds Trump "entertaining," but not dangerous, and no worse than previous presidents. I explained that what frightens me is that Trump doesn't frighten him. (Demographic side note: this person is mid-thirties, and although I can only offer anecdotal experience here, I believe that a lot of his contemporaries hold these same views -- shudder to think...)
Seeing only a dead end at the end of the pretzel-shaped road we were on, I ended our discussion with this question:
"So, then, Where Is Your Line? Tell me, where is the line for you, where Trump crosses over from the entertaining entrepreneurial president to an existential threat to you, to me, to our country? Is your line when he actually shoots someone on Fifth Avenue? Or is it when Kim Jong Un launches missiles toward the U.S., the missiles he promised to destroy on a handshake "deal" with Trump?
You don't even have to answer me now.
But just think about it.
Where Is Your Line?"
I don't expect an answer from him. And that's what frightens me so.
8
Everything will be worse once Trump leaves office. Climate, international relations, national debt, health care, wage growth. So much to fix. Another self inflicted wound to follow on the Iraq War and the bank fraud / home market collapse.
7
Trump's base only demands the appearance of a solution, one that translates into a few simple patriotic hee-haws at a fairgrounds rally. Most of them would be hard pressed to locate North Korea on a map. And realistically, it might be better for the world that Trump actually believe that he has solved the North Korean missile problem than to have him suddenly wake up to the fact that he hasn't. Not too many good options here.
7
I think we can all agree that this is the "Usual" deception, not a "Great" deception from North Korea. The bar for our POTUS is so low we have to pretend that 2-bit dictators are suddenly capable of something great.
3
Why would NK stop development? They only stopped testing to show good faith. We stopped war games with the South. If NK stopped development, what chips would they have to negotiate with us to get rid of sanctions? Why would we even negotiate if they stopped development without reciprocal benefits from us? Keeping development going is a way to keep the pressure on the US to move ahead and negotiate. The anger here against Trump is distorting our thinking about how negotiations work.
How astonishing this hasn't gone to plan for Donald, and after all that hard work. I really believed, as I'm sure you did too, that he alone could fix it. At least the alliance with Saudi Arabia is working out well. And the huge midterm election victory showed everyone. In the end it will all be a big success like the casinos and Trump University. Big. Some people say the biggest ever. Wait and see!
4
Your title is incomplete. It needs an added clause:
"In North Korea, Missile Bases Suggest a Great Deception, Exactly as Every Sane Person in the World Expected to Happen."
4
“The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted — while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads.”
I thought that NK agreed to dismantle a missile test site and halt nuclear and missile testing, which they seem too have followed through on.
Please supply evidence that NK made a commitment to stop production or deployments of missiles. I just looked, couldn’t find any.
Where is the deception?
At https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/dprkchron there is a useful chronology of statements and maneuvers by both sides.
2
You ask yourself, if we have a really inferior 45th POTUS, or, there’s a big nefarious scheme and we’re sitting here waiting to be eaten.
3
Any minute he'll tell us he doesn't know Kim Jun Un.
11
Kim told us what thought of our "president" when he sent him that giant envelope. Went right over his head!
1
Bait and wait, Trump sure did take Kim's bait and because of his insatiable arrogant need to blow his own horn and take complete credit for accomplishments he won't admit that he has made himself look like a fool. The North Koreans have been down this road before and Kim is certainly smart enough to know that any nuclear scenario would spell disaster for his country but he now has chips to bargain with. I don't believe he is stupid and truth be known, he is probably more calculating, patient and intelligent than Trump. Once again Trump will rant and threaten dire consequences to placate his base; he obviously didn't learn anything from the nuclear deal with Iran - a deal which seemed to have merit and was applauded by many countries including Russia I believe. And so, once again we see a lack of an articulate or coherent foreign policy and a gutted State Department as the world will once again sit back and smugly observe Trump's failings and inability to understand the necessity of international coalitions and collaboration in bringing pressure to bear on North Korea. Diplomacy is lost on this president and we continue to bear witness to his inept omnipotent my way or the highway credo.
4
Surprise, surprise, our president was played. This is what happens when a narcissist automatically (and blindly) likes anyone who pretends to like him. Very dangerous for the USA.
10
What a great surprise! You mean Trump smiling at Kim and shaking his hand wasn't enough to change 40 years of NK turning itself into a nuclear state? I'd say all Trump voters should be made aware of this article, but most will just call it "fake news" and go on thinking their Orange God can do no wrong. But in fact, he is putting the US in real danger. Rep Adam Schiff, in your new role as Chair of the House Intel Committee, we urgently need you to investigate this development and make it clear how important it is to be dealt with in a way that protects our country.
4
Kim, just like the majority of world leaders, has no respect whatsoever for Donald Trump. He exploited Trump's ignorance and vanity and won for himself, if only briefly, something he's long desired - legitimacy. Poor Donald Trump's Nobel Peace Prize is today further away than it's ever been.
3
"...President Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat."
No one believes a pathological lying braggadocio do they...
5
trump is preparing us for his "wag the dog" war so that he can suspend elections and keep his thrown. then he can add war criminal to his long list of felonious behaviors.
2
Wait! Let me looked shocked by this revelation. Kim knows what a attention hungry, powerless, inflated stooge Trump truly is. As does Putin. These leaders are having a field day with him. They give him some face time and he's only too happy to see whatever it is they want him to see.
4
What ? The DPRK/Kim are still pursuing their nuclear program? How can this be? Trump said...he said we won...and now he and Kim are BFF's...
One thing Trump will never learn, is men like Kim, and Putin, and any other despot - are the same as him. They lie to other people to their face. Even close associates. Lie to their nations peoples to their face.
And their word (over important matters) is used for nothing but a delaying tactic. Kim got his win. A personal meet and greet with a US President...loads of international press coverage. Some great shots of him being courted by Moon Jae-In, and of course Trump. The picture heading this article is one of them. Trump looks dazed, like he waiting for a waitress to take his order, and Kim looks like he wishes he was any place else. Like, "Who is this old guy?"
Kim is doing what he pleases. He got a delay, diddled Trump's Ego, and is now shoring up his nuclear arsenal, digging in nice and tight.
FYI; Kim aint giving up those nukes. Not ever...you can quote Charlton Heston (about his guns) on the only way. "“You'll have to drag it out of my cold, dead hands.”
1
Can you really call playing trump a "great deception". What brutal murdering dictator hasn't played trump?
4
It's a fundamental misderstanding to think North Korea would give up its nuclear and missle program. These have been a core feature of their national pride and identity under the Kim Jong-un regime.
4
@Tumbleweed
Trump got conned by N. Korea and Obama got conned by Iran. I leave it to you which is worse (although I can't think of either as "better" at the moment).
@Mark Shyres Six other countries obviously were conned along with Obama? Trump owns this one all to himself.
It's a fundamental misuderstanding to think North Korea would give up its nuclear and missle programs. These have been a core element of their national pride and identity under the Kim Jong-un regime.
@Tumbleweed
The same can be said of the U.S., Russia, Israel, Iran, India, and a few others including Pakistan (which actually scares me more than any of the others)
2
It's time to acknowledge that Trump's narcissism represents a profound vulnerability for US security. He's been played by Kim, Putin, and Xi. Whether in military, diplomatic or economic spheres, he is simultaneously diminishing our stature and making our world more dangerous. When will the GOP snap out of its slavish devotion to this lunatic?
10
@weneedhelp
Perhaps Obama's lack of leadership also explains why Trump got elected. Obama put on a good show, but paraphrasing a song from the musical Evita..." After the smoke from the funeral clears we all can see - he did nothing for years." Obama's still alive?. Couldn't tell it from his last two years in office.
1
@Mark Shyres: "Obama did it" is the usual deflection for grievous errors by Trump and his supporters. Unfortunately, Trump been in charge for two years now and not only that, he already declared he's solved the problem!
You can blame previous presidents all the way back to Eisenhower, but there's only one guy with presidential power now.
Aren't dedicated trumpies supposed to say that the problem is already solved and this news report must therefore be fake news? C'mon, get with the program.
2
@Lew
Apparently, you do not understand the principle of cause and effect.
I imagine the only person surprised by this would be our clueless President.
7
Trump was, and continues to be, played like a cheap violin. The only one who can't hear the music is him.
8
It would be so nice to have a State Department. again.
7
No serious person who was being honest ever expected North Korea to just change their ways due to Trump’s genius insights into human nature.
Human development studies tell us that the personalities of people are mostly established by five years of age. That tells us that when adults have consistently behaved in a certain way they rarely change from that way without serious efforts over long periods of time. The North Koreans only priority is survival and they will never give up any weaponry that might give any advantage.
The North Korean regime is as paranoid and dangerous as any in history and Trump has done nothing to change that, for all of his bragging.
3
Mr. Kim has already landed one "strike" on Mr. Trump. The term "dotard" hit its target with precise accuracy.
Mr. Trump's counter-fire seems to be aimed randomly, confirming the accuracy of Mr. Kim's salvo.
5
This story would be more complete if it provided reactions and strategies of China, Russia, and other countries geographically closer to these threatening installations. We are not alone in this.
2
Oh please, say it isn't so. You mean the only thing Trump accomplished was a cheap photo-op? Who would have thought it?
7
Kim Jong Un is playing Trump the way Liberace played the piano.
16
@Larry Sullivan - well, Liberace and Kim Jung Un had/have quite the unique hairstyles and wardrobes.
1
So let's continue to hold off on that Nobel Peace Prize, yes?
7
Trump has the negotiating skills of a child. How long are we going to tolerate his juvenile understanding of world affairs? This goes beyond party affiliations and petty politics. The country's safety is at stake. We need a grownup in the driver seat whether Republican or Democrat, not a dangerous fool.
15
Why am I not surprised!!! Our president, as is his wont, is more concerned with the appearance of North Korean cooperation than with reality.
3
He wouldn’t know the difference. Our president is a disaster in multiple levels.
The PDRK never agreed to denuclearize, but only to stop testing.
This "revelation" is not the surprise implied by the article.
3
The speculation here should remind us of a previous NYT "expose": Judith Miller on Iraq's WMDs. As I recall, Mr Broad was also associated with her reporting.
4
Trump's "wins" always seem to be our loss. This has now created a profoundly unstable situation in this part of Asia - and, depending on the range of N.Korean missles, the entire Pacific Rim. Wonderful..another bit of proof that Trump is far, far out of his league.
3
How is that Trump meets with Kim as well as Putin without anyone to document what has been discussed for both the record as well as history. If Trump was going to drain the swamp, he only has through his own vile and boorish behaviours increased the stench of the water. Where/how is Mitch McConnell acting as a check or balance? The American people did not elect an Emperor. The video that Trump presented to Kim with the voice over saying as the film depicts swooping over the beaches that you could have casinos. Is that why Sheldon Adelson donated such vast sums of money to the Republicans. North Korea will just do what they want.
3
What a great negotiator mr. “art of the deal” turns out to be!
2
Trump can't see past his narcissism, so of course Kim got the better of him, even though at the time he was actually in a bad situation due to the collapse of the test site.
So Kim hurried to Trump with false promises and lots of flattery in order to buy time to build new bases, without the threat of annihilation by the US. Publicly 'destroying' the already useless test site was the cherry on top of the farce.
2
16 *bases*?! Not 16 missiles?! Crikey. They're not playing beanbag are they.
2
The great deal maker strikes out again! The fact that NK would play Trump like a cheap fiddle was so obvious to everyone but Trump. Or even he knew, yet, he chose to obfuscate his failings.
3
Looking at what other authoritarian regimes gained from nuclear disarmament, it's no wonder N.Korea pulled a fast one.
It is easy to flim-flam a flim-flam artist. They think they are the smartest guys and no one is going to get anything over on them. In this case, Trump needs to be flim-flammed by Kim so that he can tell the American people that all is well, and that he is the only guy who can rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions. The rest of us should not be fooled. There has never been an agreement that Kim hasn't ignored.
2
Did anyone really think North Korea would give up their main defense from the world? What country would do that anyway? The assumption in these constant articles is that they are doing something wrong, when they are unfortunately just doing what other countries have done. Countries without nuclear weapons seem to be doing just fine. Donald Trump is guilty of being crude. The country is used to more sophisticated theatrics.
2
Of course Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo are flummoxed: like most other Americans, they cannot comprehend how the blood soaked tyrants ruling NK do not see what it is that we want from them.
As recently as September 28 of this year, North Korea’s foreign minister asserted at the UN that the US had not responded to Pyongyang's “significant goodwill measures” which he identified as stopping nuclear and missiles tests, dismantling "the nuclear test site," and pledging not to proliferate nuclear weapons and nuclear technology.
For the US, those "goodwill gestures" are nothing more than the minimal / minimal set of behaviors that one expects from a sovereign state with a missile and nuclear capability. That is to say, a responsible state should not / not behave that way in the first place. To say that the NKs need to do more is to say, rightly, that they are uncivilized and that NK needs to play by our rules.
(Note that this is our current approach to Iran. We expect Iran to behave like a responsible sovereign state, and not export terror or threaten to wipe another country off the face of the earth.)
Sanctions against NK are weakening because the rest of the world would rather place its head under the sand and pretend. History is replete with examples of such behavior.
Ultimately, there is nothing short of armed conflict, that we can do to press NK rulers to see the error of their ways.
That is the choice before Mr. Trump, as it had been for his predecessors.
Ha! We cringed when the two juveniles did their verbal sparring and worried about the next step. It appears that "the kid" had a better understanding of his opponent (or perhaps he actually reads his own intelligence reports?) In any case, he successfully conned the con man and proved to be the best con artist in the world right now. Hopefully our intelligence gatherers are being read by the generals and we remain prepared despite our Commander-in-chief and his lack of interest or reading skills
8
What country in history ever gave up its weapons while still at war? More than sixty-five years ago an armistice was signed. Combat in Korea stopped, but not the state of war, which is still on. Both Koreas, apparently, want this state of war to be ended. And the US wants -- we all want -- a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
A state of peace is essential to disarmament, obviously. So if a Korea without nukes is truly what is wanted, declare the war ended already! Otherwise, shut up -- and then put up with the continued danger of a nuclear armed north. I don't know about you, but this latter option doesn't sound too sensible to me.
3
@Anatomically modern human
we went through BRAC, base realignment and closure in the 90's for financial and other considerations. we closed bases in conus and overseas.
we have 700-800 bases overseas today. why? we created terrorists to fight terrorists to justify our presence in host countries in Africa. the waning days of the American empire.
putin ruined our plan for Ukraine to encircle russia. we auctioned off their revenue generating assets in DC to recoup our sunk cost.
north and south korea may want peace. but where would that put good old USA? china is separate by north korea and that's the closest we can get. we would find a way to sabotage it as the sunshine policy between the two koreas.
UN authorized US to administer Guam. I think most readers believe it's US territory and we militarized Guam as well.
So I guess the "love" between Kim and Trump was of a transitory nature, one crazy night, here today, gone tomorrow. Or, just fake news, never happened? But, to Kim's credit, no after the fact lawsuits, just nuclear war in the balance.
Is this what the MAGA crowd means when the say "Promises Made, Promises Kept"?
6
https://twitter.com/TimothyS/status/1062004011291811840
Tim Shorrock @TimothyS
"It is NOT deception" is right. The @nytimes is shamelessly pushing for confrontation with North Korea. From Judith Miller to David Sanger, it's the same hawkish trail of misreporting and disinformation.
Vipin Narang @NarangVipin
It is NOT deception. Kim literally ordered ballistic missiles to be mass produced on New Year’s day 2018. He never offered to stop producing them, let alone give them up. Ever. He is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/us/politics/north-korea-missile-bases.html …
7:27 AM - 12 Nov 2018
2
@Nancy The "study" on which the article is based on confesses: "some of the information used in the preparation of this study may eventually prove to be incomplete or incorrect,"
@Nancy Trump, as usual, lie to the world...
1
I should trust the NYT. You have great journalism .But you have a track record of poor judgement and journalism over Iraq and other foreign hotspots. In essence: I don't trust you.
3
As far as I am concerned, all of this expert analysis and informed speculation can be reduced to 3 propositions. One, Kim is never, ever going to give up his nuclear weapons. Two, Trump is an ignorant fool. Three, Kim is playing him to a fare the well.
9
Must be humiliating.
Fake news. Obviously. Our Leader fixed all this.
9
Is anyone surprised? I am pretty sure L'il Kim figured out he could dupe the Prez by sending nIce letters. Prez, of course, ate it all up while NK just kept on building.
The really scary part is that it is very likely that China, Russia, North Korea have all figured out how to dupe the idiot and some day soon will surprise us all with some real aggression in one form or another that will take the Orange Blimp totally by surprise, with no rational answer for how to handle it. This aggression could be economic, sabotage of our grid or banking systems perhaps, or more nuke tests by NK.
Then Trump will do something really stupid because someone belittled him, not because they are messing with our country.
1
Perhaps, instead of new diplomacy, what's needed here is couples counseling.
6
Forget about N. Korea deceiving the US, I still can't over the fact trump is president.
6
Time to hear from Sec. Mattis on the North Korea threat. We cannot trust this POTUS for any truthful information or that of his henchmen.
Trump's been played. And the American people are at risk.
3
Can you imagine what Republicans, Fox News, and red staters would be screaming if this exact scenario were played out under a President Obama?
7
Not germane. This president is a republican and so, by definition, can do no wrong. If mr. hannity’s on stage appearance at a trump ‘rally’ hasn’t cemented fox’s role as the propaganda arm of the GOP for all americans (and it hasn’t) nothing will.
This is such a huge surprise..to absolutely no one. Trump being played a fool by a 25 year old dictator isn't a surprise. This misstep with an enemy would be enough for any other leader to be forced to resign, but lo, here is the true incompetence of a reality tv show personality. Kim Jong Un didn't give Trump a rose after all.
2
I believe the most dangerous situation facing our globe today is the possibility that one or more of the eleven countries we know for sure have nuclear weapons (not counting North Korea or Iran) will be crazy enough to shoot one or more of them at a country it views as its enemy. With Donald Trump, a blowhard who thinks he knows everything and who never says "I was wrong", as our president all bets are off the table. I only hope that grownups in our government and peace-minded leaders of our military will not allow him to bluster his way into our world's first (and last) nuclear war.
3
Trump blowing his horn again mimicking Muhammad Ali “I am the Greatest”. The NOK’s are laughing in his face as they go about their business. Naiveté is another one of Trump’s myriad of flaws.
3
Just like his embarrassing showing at the Armistice anniversary, trump’s ignorance, incompetence and petulance will eventually run up against the realities of a connected and complex world. From there it becomes not a question of whether or not he weakens America but how much and how much risk he puts us at.
4
And, once again, Trump fails the American people .. not on his "Reality Show" but in the real show. He doesn't know the difference .. doesn't care anyway ... and isn't remotely educable. This is not a good thing.
2
Great deception to whom, exactly? The only person that could have possibly believed trump eliminated the North Korean nuclear threat (in one visit!) is trump. Otherwise, it’s business as usual for Mr. Kim.
3
So what distinguishes a plain old ordinary deception from a 'great deception'? Maybe the person considering the deception is the difference. Anyone who Expected the North Koreans to not try to cheat might see this as a 'great deception', where those who always understood that this is the nature of this particular beast see it as a plain, old ordinary deception. One they both anticipated and planned for maybe? Wonder which kind of person Mike Pompeo is?
1
Important is that China has strategic interest in Kim's regime done what it's doing. As China seeks to expand its sphere of military influence, it can use Korean tensions as leverage for U.S. restraint in the region: "Bother us, and we'll bolster Kim's adventurism. Give us South China Sea reign, and you might get North Korean restraint."
4
Given Mr. Trump's affinity for his Russian friend, one must wonder whether easing trade between Russia and North Korea wasn't his true objective.
5
In "The Fifth Risk," Michael Lewis describes the failure of Trump to take the reins of the federal government. The result is that positions are unfilled and tasks are ignored. This creates unforeseen risks in every area of our government. It appears that the failure to deploy the satellites needed to provide early warning of missile attacks may be a result of this "fifth risk," that of program failure.
This is just one example of the peril in which Trump's mismanagement places our country.
13
I wish this story had been made public before the Election Day last week. This is the kind of info that some of Trump's base might have taken seriously enough to shift their votes.
5
This reminds me of an old George C. Scott movie, Flim Flam Man. In the beginning, the good guy went along with the main character. But eventually, he began to question the direction of his journey and his guide. At least the disillusioned folks this around will not be those of on the left, but those on the right.
3
America is constantly improving its military capabilities. Why aren't other nations allowed to do the same?
4
@xzr56....So you think the proliferation of nuclear weapons is a good idea?
1
@W.A. Spitzer Well, the United States is improving and "proliferating" ITS nuclear weapons.....
I hope Donald Trump isn't going to take this emasculation of him, on a global stage, at the hands of little Kim Jong-un sitting down!
What we need right now is a strong, thoughtless, personally motivated, highly emotional, and completely unpredictable response.
After all, Mr. Trump said many times during his campaign that our foreign policy needs to be "unpredictable". And I think he owes it to his supporters to live up that promise.
3
This is a disgraceful article, taken from a militaristic think tank that wishes to undermine any chance of peace on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea never ever agree to stop missile development, nor has the US. The point is the Koreas are moving to peace and the US can and should be part of the peace and a Washington think tank and New York Times reporters should not try to undermine the move to peace.
3
@Nancy
CNN, after the meeting: "The document Trump and Kim signed said the North Korean leader reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. In exchange, Trump agreed to provide security guarantees to North Korea."
These photos might indicate something to the contrary. Optimism is good but talk is cheap; it would be affirming to see more concrete evidence of the move to peace you describe.
6
Hello, peace already exists on the Korean peninsula and has since 1953. To make himself look like a great president Trump invented a problem that doesn't exist in Korea. North Korea will never launch a nuclear first strike. Period. The notion that North Korea would launch on the continental United States is so insane it's laughable. Kim knows that would be the end of North Korea. What Kim wants is economic power and he's using military power as a bargaining chip to get that. Trump is too stupid to see that as the only course to denuclearization in North Korea.
2
@Nancy...."The point is the Koreas are moving to peace"....Really? What movement has taken place? Has an agreement been signed? Is there on site verification?
Earth to Mike Pompeo: how’s that defense thing workin out?
7
Wow! Who knew that trump lied? How is that even possible? He did say that he was in love with Kim Jong Un and perhaps it’s simply that love is blind?
11
I sure hope Trump is being well-paid by his handlers. I’d hate to think he’d do this much damage to the USA cheap.
5
It would appear that the so-called president has been as effective at disarming the N. Koreans as he has been in winning an easy trade war.
10
Our liar in chief continues batting 1000 - failing at every deal he claims is a success.
2
Stormy Donald will now say that without him, we would have already died.
4
The World is playing trump, the patsy.
6
From first sentence: “…16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images”
“New” satellite images?
The images are not “new”:
Every satellite image is dated March 29, 2018…more than two months prior to the Trump-Kim June 12th meeting.
https://beyondparallel.csis.org/undeclared-north-korea-sakkanmol-missile-operating-base/
And the 7-month old satellite images with fancy arrows pointing to “Housing”, “Support Facilities”, “Greenhouses” and “Barracks”…..are about as evidentiary as the Colin Powell UN debacle.
Lastly, the Beyond Parallel report itself closes with:
“…some of the information used in the preparation of this study may eventually prove to be incomplete or incorrect”
3
@rfmd1
The new images have probably not been released to the public, and they'd likely be useless to 99.9% of us. The images in the report were used because they clearly illustrate the layout & nature of each installation for we amateurs.
Would you know what to look for in the new images? I know I wouldn't. I leave that to highly trained and experienced experts.
1
But, Gee....
Pompeo was there just last week and Kim writes such nice notes of praise. Its hard to believe they could be trying to deceive us.
3
Why was there not a New York Times' investigation into Iran after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was made. "Nobody is allowed to visit Iran's military sites," said Ali Akbar Velayati, adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. So was there a Times' investigation into Iranian military sites, off-limits to the International Atomic Energy Agency? No. In fact, why didn't the Times follow up when IAEA Director-General Yukia Amano lied about that very fact, saying that Iranian military sites were not off-limits. Seems to me to be enough muck for the Times to start an investigation. What happened to true muckraking, an outgrowth of the Progressive Era?
1
@Xyce.... "Nobody is allowed to visit Iran's military sites," .....As I recall onsite inspection was granted by the agreement to Iran's military sites on request, with a two week delay (I think two weeks is correct). Many people complained that Iran would hide something during the delay, not understanding that uranium purification can't be done in your garage. It takes a significant facility, and it leaves tell-tale traces that probably can't be cleaned up in two years let alone two weeks. I think your complaint is lacking in any serious validity.
@W.A. Spitzer
As you recall? So you're not sure? And even if it says it in black and white that onsite inspection was granted, it does not mean that it was. Velayati said that there had been no inspection on their sites. What, was he lying? That is a pretty big leap of faith, my friend. Can't you just admit it was a terrible agreement? It's like the police coming to the house of the person who they suspect of killing someone, and the suspect saying, "You can look anywhere, except the basement." And the police, after checking everywhere except the basement, conclude that their suspect is innocent.
Guess that no nukes line in the sand meant all the nukes you want just so long as I get first dibs on a resort deal sometime in the near future.
4
Building thousands of nuclear devices and saying they'll never be used is like saying we're building ploughs by the thousands but we'll never plough the land with them. The leaders of the free world should not let President Trump alone presiding over the denuclearization of North Korea. Yet Mr. Trump has alienated almost everyone head of the state when it is time to work together in order to stop the madnes of this cruel regime which has been building dozens of nuclear devices while starving its people, and jailing and executing anyone who tries to leave. North Korea's human rights record has been completely evacuated from the actual negociations and, just like the nazis during WW2, the regime will try to hide its awful treatment of the tens of thousands of its citizens imprisoned in labor camps. Can we expect a Nuremburg trial in North Korea? Not soon in any case.
I'm reminded of the Dave Von Ronk song, "Losers". "I lost my money playing seven card stud. I was playing for money. They were playing for blood. Losers, losers...."
2
"But he's said nice things about me, m-e, Meeeeeeeee...!"
45*
4
Wonder if Donald is still gushing his love for Kim? My bet is probably yes because he doesn't read intelligence reports and would prefer to follow his gut instincts instead of trusting those valuable sources that he ignores around him.
It's the same blind indifference he has over the Russian meddling in our elections. If it makes him look bad, he simply chooses to not believe it.
This ostrich with his head in the sand approach to the world will come back and bite us all the longer Trump fiddles away in office.
Relax everyone.
Donald Trump said, "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea".
No less than 62,979,636 Americans are willing to bet their lives, and their children's lives, that Mr. Trump's lies don't really matter.
I'll be thinking of that number, and all those Americans when I see a blinding bright light go off in the sky.
1
This is no surprise. If Trump can't even hold in high regard our historically crucial relationship with European leaders--who now show signs of scorn and distrust--why would Kim and the North Korean-Chinese axis think they need to work out a deal with Trump? Trump, many realized, was getting punked by the North Korean leader. Trump, as usual, boasted that his persona (narcissistic arrogance) would overwhelm Kim. Trump's "meeting" was framed by Trump as simply
"the" success--measured by photo ops. A similar debacle took place in Helsinki. Leaders know how to trick Trump---play to his sense of vanity. This just intensifies the instability brought about by a president who disregards the intelligence community (that "deep state" he himself distrusts). Things will get worse, now that Trump has been hoodwinked.
1
So what’s the alternative to the thaw in relations that has occurred under Trump? More tough talk? More threats? We then would have to back it up with action. What would that be? But I understand. It’s not about being constructive or supportive of the President while he deals with a difficult adversary. But it’s all about tearing him down and thus weakening him as he struggles to promote our national interests. Oh, but “nationalism, so-called is now a dirty word, isn’t it? But one has to wonder, if nationalism is so tabu and internationalism is now so “in,” what are the Euro nations doing about this and other problems around the world except making snide remarks and moralizing as if they had never started two world wars themselves and we had never rebuilt their economies afterward. It was a one-sided effort on our part and a one-sided response on theirs as the recipients of our generosity. So much for the virtues of “internationism,” especially when one is on the taking side instead of on the giving side. Now they’re making a big show of unity at the centennial of the Armistice—France no doubt celebrating its pathetic Maginot line and its cowardly collaboration with the enemy and Germany conveniently forgetting the unforgivable. Give me a break.
“Soft on Communism” used to be the clarion call of the Republican Party, in fact, the party saved itself from extinction post Truman by coalescing around the message that Democrats were soft on communism. My how times have changed.
It’s not Fake News to point out that the President is nothing, if not soft on Comminism. Do Americans not realize the trillions of tax dollars that have been spent since WW2 doing the opposite of what this man is doing?
3
I'm afraid that articles like this are going to inflame Trump's tender ego to the point that, to save face, he impulsively decides to bomb N. Korea. In his mind, it'll be great for ratings and make him look tough. The earth may be reduced to cinders and ashes, but I'm not sure that thought particularly troubles him. He's a lunatic. In electing him, we handed a toddler a machine gun. Now no one is safe, least of all the grownups who try to take it away from him.
3
Trump: If I close my eyes, there is no danger from missiles in North Korea, our long time enemy.
If I imagine people who are darker than me or who speak a different language or have a different accent are a problem, then they are a horrific danger.
Facts are irrelevant.
2
Never mind that. What about the caravan? And, where's our wall?
1
No story for the informed. I predicated as much before the Trump-Kim summit in a post to Time's opinion writers, comparing Trump to Nixon in claiming "win" for failure.
Richard Nixon after the disaster of operation Lam Son 719 in 1971. " tonight I can report Vietnamization has succeeded."
Donald Trump after Kim summit. " Sentence one says a total denuclearization of NK. There will be denuclearization, so thats the real story." Right. Sure. Maybe for the Trumpbots.
Like the North Vietnamese, Kim is using "time". Oh, Kim may even sign a "treaty" in the next 2 years, a fig leaf that with no teeth, in which the US has capitulated on almost every point except one ( In Paris 73, that one point was removal of Thieu and a new coalition government in South).
Also like the NV, Kim, knows Trump faces an election in two years. Kim now has as many as 30-60 devices and a rocket capable of reaching US ( question is accuracy and payload of a real nuclear device).
As Le Duc Tho said when Kissinger intimated that Nixon might not be contained " Time, Time, How much time do you have? 10, 20 years is nothing to us. Our will is iron and stone which is unshakable."
1
Despite the recent hurricanes in our country, which killed hundreds of people, or the fires in California which have already killed dozens of people in that state, or the many men, women and children who have been killed this year by guns, or the tens of thousands of people in our country who died in auto accidents, there is a much more frightening threat facing not just our country, but our world. Nuclear weapons!
There are now at least eleven countries, not counting North Korea or Iran, which have these weapons of mass destruction, and which are MUCH more powerful than any other threat which mother nature can send our way. This threat is not from some alien from outer space but from people just like us, and it is not inconcievable
This imagery is the most persuasive I've seen since those 2002 satellite photos of the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
2
Now here's a story that won't be covered by Fox News. But first things, first. If this fact-based news somehow reaches Trump supporters, is there a way we can blame it all on Obama?
Attention on Deck all Democrats and Independents!
Cease and desist on Traitor Trump impeachment, because he is the best advertisement for Democratic ascendancy in 2020.
Do not waste time or money appealing to the FOX Mob.
Tom Steyer: thank you for your service.
1
"We are in no rush,"...
Well silly me, I just can help but feel I'M THE ONLY one concerned about the money-hungry, criminal enterprise known as the N. Korean government producing more and more nuclear weapon that could sell to any number of terrorist organizations.
But, I know there's no rush, none at all....
This indicates that they dynamic duo of D Trump and Dennis Rodman were not successful. C'mon.
2
We can probably take reassurance that the professionals in the Defense Dept. and senior commanders of the forces responsible for all our weapons systems are wisely ignoring the president, ignorant fool that they recognize him to be. They, not the current occupant, are the actual protectors of our country and will do what they have to do, quietly and skillfully. Their mission excludes the drama, self-aggrandizement, and delusional blathering so loved by our little president.
The only people who have been deceived are Trump supporters, because they worship their leader, believe any lie he tells, and they get their "news" from Fox. Trump himself doesn't give a hoot what N. Korea does, because the only thing that's important to Trump is Trump.
So, just curious: What part of "Reality" Presidency don't you get?
1
And to think Trump criticized the Iran deal. No deal is a perfect but at least Obama negotiated a deal that allowed inspectors in the country. We will never see an American or ally step foot in North Korea to assess their program.
Trump doesn’t need inspectors. His nuclear avoidance program works through magic and imagination.
Several commenters seem to have read the fairy tale in which sanctions work. North Korea is about as likely to give up its nuclear weapons as is China or the USA. Only Ukraine has voluntarily given up a nuclear arsenal, and look what it did for them.
It is certainly appropriate to blame any administration that lets nuclear proliferation happen under its nose, but Truman is no longer in office, and North Korea developed its arsenal under at least eight presidential nostrils. We've been blending carrots and sticks in a food processor for decades, with no results.
The only thing we can do now is to unilaterally assure that Kim's destruction is "mutually assured" until he grows up and becomes responsible nuclear player. If he somehow drops the ball before then, great, but meanwhile we have to trust in the calming effect people with odd-hued hair seem to have on him.
By falling in love with Kim, Trump has further endangered America (and South Korea and Japan, our allies).
Encouraged by the one-to-one meeting in June, China and Russia have re-engaged with the North on trade, rather than keeping them isolated and out of touch. So sanctions have no teeth, and the North continues its nuclear program.
If this is “winning” according to Trump, let’s go back to “losing”. We’ll all live longer.
Stop for a minute and think about what could happen if the North decides to sell its fissile material to a state that already has nuclear missile capabilities. Pakistan comes to mind first, followed by Iran, and other 3rd parties of which we are unaware.
Iran sponsors terrorism. Pakistan borders Afghanistan and so is close to the Taliban, al Queda, and ISIS.
I hope someone in Washington is thinking about that, and doing something about it.
Some of the fictional terrorist threats depicted in books, TV shows, and movies may be closer to reality than we think, or want.
@HeyJoe415
Please just refresh your knowledge:
First Pakistan has already nukes.
Second, could you give one recent exemple of terrorist act sponsorshiped by Iran ?
1
For many if not most of us there was never any question that nothing outside a photo-op had been accomplished by Trump's NK "meeting." If all it took were a good buddy handshake, Dennis Rodman would have solved it all years ago. No, this is actually a complex issue that requires far more than what a trust-funded reality-show host/failed real estate developer is capable of bringing to the table, as are all the other pressing issues facing this not-really-wanna-be President. This guy can't even make a cemetery memorial service if it's raining or the traffic is too heavy - who would expect him to have success with detente? The only experience he's had in foreign relations are with his wives; none of those lasted either.
1
Please do tell me no one here is genuinly surprised by this news. DPRK has a long and well documented history of less than earnest vows. Without specific language the Trump agreement was no more than a photo op in a ham fisted public relations campaign by Kim.
Even fully revoking sanctions against DPRK, inconceivable considering their actions outside of the nuclear arena, would not suffice to end the nuclear program. In Kim's eyes a significant increase in wealth and opportunity for the people and officials of DPRK would eventually threaten his survival. It is through the poverty and powerlessness of the masses that he is able to maintain control of his military through relatively small favors of food and comfort. Any wealth independant of Kim would be a direct threat to his rule.
So there is no negotiation, no enticement that will make Kim a good global citizen. I can see no reasonable option other than to aggressively contain that outlaw nation. Steady nerves may be able to manage that without it ever coming to war.
To POTUS, all he has to do is shout "Trump!" and everyone will cave to his wishes. No bothersome analyzing, planning, strategizing, or building alliances. That worked with his "base," whose members are governed largely by fear and bigotry. But it has less success with people who are serious about governing, peacemaking, and the world order. All well and good, especially for those of us who had him figured out long ago. But it presages growing unease abut what he might do as his influence continues to shrink. The Republicans in Congress have surrendered and joined the parade to mindless battle. Remember when they said they'd "rein him in?" Any Red grownups out there?
Mr. Trump, he said, “would then declare victory, say he got more than any other American president ever got, and the threat would still be there.”
Sounds like THE plan.
If the network has indeed long been "known to American intelligence agencies," then it would seem that the "great deception" is more on the part of the US President for pretending to have neutralized North Korea's threat when he knew it was in fact untrue.
1
I distinctly remember seeing many NYT commenters ridiculing those fellow commenters who questioned the success of Trump's NK strategy back when he was strutting his stuff. They suggested those commenters who questioned his (clear??) success were just blind partisans. Anybody willing to fess up that they didn't see this coming two+ years ago? I ask this not to be mean. Rather, if you aren't willing to be skeptical in real time of a politician strutting and claiming wins, then you hand people like trump our country.
9
Months ago, in the leadup to the talks, any reasonably intelligent American citizen could have predicted that Trump was going to be had by the North Koreans.
Goes to show just how much better a reasonably intelligent American citizen is as a negotiator than Trump.
8
trump simply needed another location for laundering money and what better location than North Korea as "the next economy in which the US can invest."
Wait for the call to help NK build their economy.
2
Listen for the sound of crickets from Trump sycophants in light of this news; and imagine the cries of weakness and naivete from the same bunch if this were occurring after a Democratic president made efforts at negotiation w/ North Korea.
3
Dude claims credit for accomplishing less than nothing. Is Rodman still available? BTW, where is Prince Jared’s Middle East peace plan? The secret war plan for Afghanistan? Fantasy promises made, unicorns not found.
5
@Joe B.
I am sure Trump's main centre of interest is discovering the fountain of youth. His puerile personality reveals a sordid Peter Pan Complex which renders him oblivious to dealing with the thornier aspects of certain adult realities...
"The world is a much safer place"
"He writes me beautiful letters"
"So he’s a very smart guy, he’s a great negotiator and I think we understand each other"
A fools errand along with the other great dictator he loves - Putin.
6
No one saw this coming. Nope.
6
Ah! Trump success again! North Korea, as all despotic government can play Trump like a violin.
4
The World According to Trump vs reality are two ends of the spectrum.
This article with the photo clearly showing the satellite image of a North Korean missile base is yet another example of Trump’s and his administration’s alarmingly dangerous pig headed simple mindedness.
Trumps’ version of the North Korean situation goes something like this: Trump meets Kim, says Kim is a great leader with loyal subjects, declares the meeting a big success, invites Kim to the White House and maybe a little golf and overcooked steak and voila, situation defused by the only person able to do it, the great deal maker and stable genius himself. Simple as that.
Witnessing Trump’s shallowness regarding almost every subject from North Korea to the cause of fires in California is grueling to put it mildly. It is endless, unrelenting and, worse yet, there’s no bottom to the shocking incompetence. It is terrifying.
As Chico Marx said, “who are you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?”
4
Obviously more fake news! For the real story (which changes daily) ask the president!
1
The American con man sitting in the Oval Office has met a con man in North Korea who is much more adept at these infernal games. No wonder trump admires him.
2
Duh, or as Gomer Pyle would say "surprise surprise surprise ... shaZAAM! .... GOH-ah-AH-AH-LEE!"
Can't be surprised, however, if you don't acknowledge it, so Trump et. al. are not surprised - not he, can't ever be surprised because if he reaches the point where he can't deny it, "he saw it all, planned for it".
I guess you should expect this sort of thing when you elect a TV character to be nuclear arms negotiator-in-chief.
6
“Back since the days of old Methuselah
Everyone loves the big bambooz-a-ler”
Chicago, the musical
3
Trump's lack of understanding and continued need for "wins" are foolish. This s an example of a total lack of strategic thinking resulting from this fault.
The Art of The Deal??? The Trumpster is clearly out of his political league versus the N. Koreon tyrant. The young dictator bested the American bully and is now acceleraring his arms ambitions, while the USA’s credibily, world stature countinues to erode as we continue our path to isolate our nation from our once solid allies.....and the beat goes on!!!!
2
Trump and his toadies vis-à-vis North Korea: incompetent , dishonest, gullible, and doing real harm.
North Korea is now doing more missile and bomb work than it was before Trump met with Kim on TV. The US under Trump is doing less to monitor and contain North Korea. The White House knew about the North Korean progress, but said the opposite. As expected, Kim played Trump for a fool. The world is less safe now than it was before Trump met Kim on TV.
2
This cannot be real. Must be Fake News. Our Dear Leader has told us so. He is the greatest deal maker who ever lived, and he gave a whole morning to this negotiation--surely more than enough to end the N Korean threat.
Besides, when two countries' Dear Leaders fall in love, what could go wrong?
3
I suspect that Trump is fully aware that Kim did not and would not completely disarm, but his base is willing to believe anything he says. If he announced that he had sent a manned spaceship to Mars, and astronauts were walking around there now (swimming in fact), Fox & Friends would echo it and the base would believe it. The world is in a lot of trouble on this 100th anniversary of Armistice Day. I think everyone believed the worst was over that day, and along came Hitler.
1
For the current White House occupant, love means never having to say you've been poleaxed.
9
Let's face it: All Trump has accomplished with NK is to organize a splashy meet and greet. ANY President over the last 50 years could have done this but they didn't because such a meeting benefits NK by enhancing its prestige while benefiting the US not at all.
So Trump can organize a meet and greet that benefits NK. Not exactly impressive.
22
It’s not impressive and Trump’s visit has only helped NK in its dealings with China and Russia.
So it would have been better had Trump and Pompeo never met with Kim. And it’s for this reason - to discourage other countries from dealing with NK - that all of Trump’s predecessors have refused to even acknowledge the North.
@dkfalmouth It's called government by stunt.
Kim knows only to o well that Trump needs to win at all costs and will say whatever is necessary to have it appear that way. So he does what he wants and Trump gets what he wants, whether he gets it or not.
9
Trumps "signature work of diplomacy?" Oh my goodness I can't stop laughing. Putin tells Trump he wants American troops out of Korea and gives him some tips on how to proceed. Trump gets to work. The unfortunate thing is that other people can actually see that what Trump is saying is a lie. Satellites have pictures that people can look at which is a bummer for the president. I'm sure he'll find some way to put those cameras out of commission next. And Putin is certainly not going to allow the pentagon to go forward with any new advanced satellites at least not on his watch. Putin is playing trump like a violin.
Not sure what's going to be left of the USA before trump is gone but one thing I know for certain is that our enemies will have grown significantly stronger.
16
Why do we learn these new facts now, just after people voted in the mid-terms and trump was allowed to control the narrative?
I would think that such a cornerstone of his salesmanship, that he would take care of things on the international stage his "weak" predecessors had neglected, would be a relevant topic for midterm decisions. The facts revealed in this article suggest his early and very very much praised efforts at international dominance are unraveling. Many predicted this would happen. Many others said, "no, he's strong. These strategies of his show he's strong." It was a farce.
It angers me deeply that the American electorate has a two-second memory. All many will remember in two years is the fuzzy feeling that trump is strong, that feeling they got when he sauntered over to NK and declared it all over, that same feeling he provides when he defines (makes up) an enemy and dominates it, like when he demonizes groups of people (like reporters, or immigrants, etc). By the time voting arrives again in two years they'll have forgotten these recently revealed facts about NK. That or they'll never learn them. Come election time, we will yet again be talking about more of trump's straw men. Why was this story not published a few weeks before the elections? Another election passes and we deserve our disgrace.
9
This is a no-brainer. Who would have thought our naive President could have cut through decades of NK lies and deceit with his charm. On top of all that, he backs out of a nuclear arms agreement with Iran saying it was the worst agreement ever, when in fact they were complying. So he wants war with Iran and declares he has neutralized the nuclear threat with NK. He praises dictators and chastises allies. Seems the deception is that Trump thinks he is the President that will rearrange the world order to our advantage. NOT!
7
For those who ignore Trump's lies and boasts as little more than bombast, here's a reminder of the serious consequences that flow from such leadership -- or lack of leadership, to be more precise. Not only does it endanger America and the world, but it lulls the people in this country to thinking all is well when it so obviously is not.
8
That Trump got it wrong (again) is hardly newsworthy. The guy really and truly is clueless.
– Missile bases are not launch facilities - they are support facilities.
– Aside from stoking fear, there is not much a nuclear weapon can do that can't be achieved with conventional weapons and at a much less cost.
– The production of fissile material in-and-of itself does not connote nuclear bomb or missile capabilities. However fissile material does represent a salable item to current nuclear-capable states – Iran, Pakistan etc. And therein lies the danger - black market money for North Korea and increased nuclear capability for current nuclear-capable rogue states.
– The greater the exposure of North Korea's intents - the greater chance of encirclement and containment by allied states who oppose North Korea (almost everyone) – so a real danger here is the lack of funding for satellites that shed daylight on North Koreas mobile launchers.
I see a dog-like animal's face in the upper left outlined area.
I hope this helps.
5
@Technic Ally
I see Trump in profile with his forelock blowing back over his head!
2
So now we know North Korea is not amenable to negotiation. A face-to-face meeting made this knowledge possible.
1
Um, are implying that this was Trump’s strategy? Because it wasn’t. He was aiming for a Nobel. He had no strategy aside from I alone can fix everything, by my powerful tweets.
1
Dangerous leader. No, not Kim, Trump.
His:
1. Lies
2. Need to look like a winner
3. Lack of fear of consequences
4. Naive confidence in his skills
5. Inability to take advice from experts
PUTS US IN GRAVE DANGER.
7
This was discovered by commercial satellites that are not designed to search for weapons systems and don't have the resolution that the military satellites have.
The military has known that the sites existed for quite a while but I wonder if when they attempted to tell the orange one if he was even interested. Somehow I don't think this information even made it past his handlers. No one wants to be screamed at by a fool.
@Paulie
Actually the difference isn’t that big. Commercial birds since 2014 can distribute images with 10” resolution, military satellites likely have that down to 4”, maybe a bit less. Add infrared and you can see what’s generating heat, and in the end it’s people who decide what’s probably in a scene, not the satellites. Commercial resolution can certainly find you a base, mil resolution can do a better job of seeing things changing - vehicles, people, supplies.
Trump gets a one-page simply written intelligence report on all the situations in the world. I don’t know if he reads it. Trump got angry when given the many page detailed intelligence reports that Obama got during his presidency.
Mr. Trump may have had some clear ideas before the 2016 election, now I don't believe he knows what, where or how to get anything done.
3
Another promise made, another promise broken. Trump/GOP outplayed by N Korean kid barely out of diapers. But, Trump/GOP did accomplish their top policy priority victory- massive $ trillions tax cuts for ultra wealthy which we will be paying for, forever.
6
Where are the Secy of State and other advisers responses to this?
Hopefully, the White House Press Corps will begin this up. Who will SHS and DT kick out when that happens?
2
@Daniel
Great point. Now that Sessions is gone, who gets chosen for the beatings? What is the chain of punishment, er.....command?
1
White House staff will ignore Trump’s statement.
The Press Corps will be ignored.
Trump and his dishonest clown car of an administration wanted us all to believe that Trump had made the North Korean missile problem go away. However, here that myth is completely shattered by COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE satellite images. Yet again, the bloviator/prevaricator-in-chief didn't think there'd ever be any evidence basis for anyone in the general public to be able to disprove his entirely bogus claims.
Jan 3 2019, when Democratic control of the House officially begins, and Nov 3 2020, the date of the next election, cannot come soon enough.
5
This can't be true. Trump told us we were safe. He trusts Kim.
Could it be that we need a real president and real diplomats?
6
The US military spending is now about $700 billion per year. Trump increased it by about $100 billion over Obama.
The entire Gross National Product of the DPRK according to the CIA estimate is but $30 billion. What a threat to the mighty US!
The Number One job of the Deep State Daily is to beat the drums for war.
2
NK is more a threat to South Korea. What should we do? Put our heads in the sand and ignore reality?
We’ve got a president saying everything is great with his Love Kim. Again, not true.
This is what happens when you apply skill sets used in real estate, reality T.V. and branding to the denuclearization of the Korean Pennisula. Remember, someday there are going to be beautiful hotels and condos on those stunning North Korean Beaches.
4
Could this be true? Could this be a doctored photo, a fabricated or exaggerated report? Some will surely take pleasure in saying it is. However, just look at it in the full light of common sense and reason. What is more likely -- a power like North Korea shutting down it's entire, darling nuclear program on the basis of a single meeting with an American president? Or for an American president and his administration, (and I mean any president and any administration) to lie about it? Clearly, the lying president is more likely. Now make that president someone with a well-established disregard for truth and it's a no-brainer.
4
Honestly, is anyone surprised by this outcome? First year undergrad in politics could have predicted the turn of events and....done a better job at the negotiating table.
4
Sleep well North Korea. The world’s most inept leader has made sure our treaty with Iran that was working well is in the dirt and your phony assurances to him will never be challenged. Mr. Bankruptcy is doing what he’s always done best. Turned gold into straw.
7
Trump gets duped. We all lose. How will he spin this?
Incredible? Amazing? Facts are not facts?
7
Trump does not spin that which he can simply ignore. If any missiles do eventually get launched, he will blame Obama.
1
“Mission Accomplished” redux.
5
Trump will always claim he "won" whether he has or not. Then he moves on to the next issue that he can claim to win. Follow-through is not part of his vocabulary.
The only good to come from his bromance with Kim was the forestalling of a possible war at the time. That doesn't mean that Korea has stopped its nuclear program, just that it promised to do so.
There was no impending war at the time. Trump made it seem that their was so he could be a hero and stop the non-existent war. Just like he is saving America from exhausted women and children who will have walked 2600 miles.
@Elizabeth Miranti⚾️ At the time, I was concerned that Trump would start a war, not Kim.
“Denuclearization” means what again? Absolutely nothing. Scientific literacy matters, no pun intended.
1
Probably Kim Jong-un agreed to meet Trump just to personally debunk his claimed high I.Q.
In fact Kim was right.
The saddest part is that half of this country still support this laughingstock.
Incredible but true.
2
I like seeing Trumpists and the few remaining Stalinists try to argue that this is just a biased report from a biased warmingering think-tank, given that Pompeo’s demanding that these imaginary sites must be dismantled and the fact that so far, the DPRK hasn’t so much as made good their promise to provide a full list of sites.
Is anyone surprised about this? Trump & Pompeo have been played like a sweet sounding Violin! North Korea will never give up it's Nukes, never intended to, cannot be trusted, ever!
3
What ? You mean that little Kim lied to trump and put one over on the "Great Trump " how funny .
2
This sort of scares me. When our fearless leader finds out he has been duped he's liable to launch a nuke in a fit of temper tantrum retaliation.
But Kim writes trump beautiful letters full of love.
2
Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo: the formidable negotiators
1
Is anyone surprised by this other than the egomaniac in the Oval?
2
No real surprise there. It's only in the United States that Trump is taken seriously, and that by a dwindling minority.
The rest of the world sees him for the ignorant doofuss that he is.
3
Nobody with a lick of sense honestly believed Kim Jong Un was dismantling his nukes because of one do-nothing meeting between himself and Donald Trump. Unfortunately, it appears Donald Trump doesn't have a lick of sense.
11
There simply is no doubt that Trump has got NK to change its behavior and recalculate its actions in the future. Whether he can bring about total denuclearization remains to be seen, but with Pompeo and Bolton in place he has a clear-eyed team that will not accept partial steps as the basis for formally ending the war. The trade with China and Russia provides some relief, but not the kind of relief the regime is ultimately looking for, and both China and Russia are vulnerable to more pressure being applied by the US and other allies. Better to be patient and continue doing what we're doing so long as the missile tests don't start again while maintaining maximum pressure. The speculation that Trump would accept a deal similar to the flawed agreement Obama entered into with Iran is simply that. No one ever expected this to be easy and for all of us we must give the president more time to see what can be achieved while keeping our eyes wide open.
2
@Allen "better to be patient and continue doing what we're doing" - what is it that we're doing? It does not seem as though we are "doing" anything. It seems the meeting was all for show and absolutely nothing came of it. I don't understand why you feel compelled to pretend like you believe our president because of some actual, existing reason. You're choosing to believe him because you have the right to do whatever you want and you like him, why not just admit it? There's no factual or logical basis to believe him here.
@Allen
Pompeo is an absolute beginner.
Bolton only likes things that create insults or explosions.
A neophyte and a chickenhawk. What could possibly go wrong?
1
Clearly Kim Jung-un has not read “the art of the deal”.
I mean this is not how this is supposed to go!
Right?
4
Trump would not know. He has not read The Art of the Deal either. His ghost writer said Trump had 0% participation in the book.
1
trump's reckless 'What me worry?' approach to diplomacy is now ameliorated by a new 'love' factor, whereby 'all's fair in love and war'. Meanwhile back at the ranch in the US the EPA is being gutted, the CFPB is being dismantled, Dodd–Frank is being compromised, huge chunks of public lands are being sold off, world free trade is being seriously assailed, the justice department is being revamped with a slew of GOP biased appointees, and all while the FBI is being disemboweled.
6
So when all is over and it is recognized that Trump got nothing other than the glory of parading around Singapore in his "great deal maker" facade, who is in the catbird seat - Kim Jong Un.
3
Trump is not a person that actually cares about the world or the country. All he cares about is winning for himself. This is not the way that governments and diplomats are supposed to work in the world. This process is flawed and so it is no surprise that North Korea is continuing its program. That is what they have always done. The change is that we have a ridiculous charlatan lying to us and telling us he has changed everything. HOAX. Shame on us for allowing this person to become the leader of our country.
2
Trump cares about stroking his ego and money.
If you don’t expect anything more, you won’t be disappointed.
1
Let’s not use this as an “I told you so” moment but instead an example, or a teachable moment.
When the US electorate that is opposed to this administration and DJT (which a majority of the population) indicates that DJT’s lies are dangerous-this is what we are referring to.
Here it is.
You do not have to look far for the peril in this article.
North Korea nuclear efforts are moving forward and DJT is lying about it. Or worse, he is so uninformed he does not understand the danger to this country and our allies.
If anyone on the right still doubts the danger that DJT poses should just bookmark this article.
It’s sure to come up again!
3
From the beginning, even I, a older women with little experience in politics, could see that Kim boy was playing Trump like a bow fiddle.
4
Evidently Putin believes that America would be weakened if North Korea possessed nukes, so that became Trump’s policy.
1
Trump will stick his head in the sand if the facts don’t fit his narrative. He’s the biggest single threat to national and international security.
5
A third-world con artist beats a first-word con artist. A David versus Goliath of mendacity.
3
I have looked at the satellite images and I don't see any missiles. Where are the missiles? There are none! Stop making stories where there are none. Let's move on. MAGA! Thank you.
1
How convenient, a crisis for trump to handle.
What? So, the love affair between Kim and Trump is over? And we that that theirs was a match made in heaven... Sad.
2
Pending any military action involving North Korea, the biggest losers today are the Republican Party politicos who supported Trump's folly with Kim without batting an eye. They have lost all credibility in the eyes of lucid and sentient beings.
1
Two Flim-Flam men conning each other and the world, both with anger management issues. What could possibly go wrong?
3
N Korea plays Trump as a dummy. As do Russia and China. The dummy tells his base that these long-time opponents have backed down. Base believes him. All is well until . . . But Trump will be gone by then.
Trump's narcissism is boundless. All that he wants is to be declared victorious. It doesn't matter that medium- and long-term US interests are sacrificed.
I guess we are lucky that Trump hasn't gotten around to throttling his security agencies so info like this doesn't reach the public. Every month, tho, it's harder to find anything for which to be grateful as this idiot leads us off a cliff.
1
Guess what? It's all about a first strike capability, complete decapitation, total destruction of the United States and Israel, as the PRC, Russia and NK conspire ("collaborate") to rule the world. Yes, of course, they'd lose a few million folks but that's the price of total domination, a price worth paying for the ultimate victory.
The only question then is, where do you want to be on that day?
1
Trump/Pompeo are being played. Kim is walking all over Vera them. Trump is devastating for Americans.
1
Did anyone really think anything besides this would happen? Trump the snake oil salesman proclaims peace in our time, while while Putin tells him what to do and Kim laughs in his face.
CSIS, the Kissinger-inspired neocon war propaganda mill, is at it again. On would think that after its March, 2000 "Weapons of Mass Destruction in ...Iraq" Report, and the fraud subsequently exposed, it would get out the so-called "intelligence" business and engage is something somewhat less destructive (say writing greeting card aphorisms for neocon fundraisers). Here again we have grainy satellite photos with lots'n'lots of boxes and arrows pointing out buildings and hills (called "bases", "secret", but known, and "bases", not launch sites) signifying nothing but lots'n'lots of boxes and arrows pointing out buildings and hills. The Sakkanmol base was built in 1991, and the evidence for the so-called secret nuclear missile threat is that there is evidence that there has recently been "the addition of barracks, vehicle maintenance and storage facilities, greenhouses, and a number of small structures throughout the base." That's it. Well, at least these pro-war agitators have learned one lesson from their IRAQI WMD lie, as they now append to their "intelligence' the caveat that "While some of the information used in the preparation of this study may eventually prove to be incomplete or incorrect.... it is hoped that it provides a new and unique open-source look into the subject that others may build on." Uh-huh. Say no more 'til the next war, CSIS.
3
Just another case of Trumpian "alternative facts."
So much winning!
We should take this with a grain of salt. The nuclear situation in North Korea is a classified matter; so an unclassified report by a think tank is only worth so much. The North's nuclear program is likely progressing, but at what pace is really not something that is mentioned in this report. A few buildings in the mountains doesn't mean too much.
It is certainly likely that North Korea is trying to play bait and switch, but let's not underestimate our intelligence community. The fact is that all of us on here can only speculate what the real situation is based on a short article that provides little detail.
9
@Ben: I would agree with you but as you know he has no time for detailed intelligence briefings and gets most of his intelligence from FOX news.
1
It would be difficult to underestimate the ‘intelligence’ at work in the executive branch of the federal government under the Trump administration. Trump and his minions have made a concerted effort to purge our government of a generation’s worth of accumulated expertise and data; and either have failed to replace existing staff or intentionally filled open posts with inexperienced partisans whose primary role is to dismantle the government agencies of which they are a part.
Not that one need believe everything she reads, but Michael Lewis’s book “The Fifth Risk” paints a tragic picture of the ongoing “deconstruction” and dumbing down of the Department of Commerce, the EPA and USDA, the Department of Energy and other organizations that have been vital to the health and welfare of Americans (particularly of the typical rural Trump voter) and to innovation in domestic industries.
Given Trump’s vocal animosity towards our federal law enforcement and intelligence communities, there’s good reason to think those capabilities are being similarly eroded on Trump’s watch. If they don’t tell him what he wants to hear, off with their heads. That’s not a recipe for success when listening to and responding rationally to bad news is paramount - as it is when dealing with an adversary like North Korea. Proclaiming “love” for a brutal despot like Kim Jong Un may be a good way to sell snake oil and swamp land to the natives - but probably not a great way to negotiate with dictators.
@Ben you miss the point. Trump said the nuclear threat from NK has been resolved through, you know, his negotiating skills.
2
In diplomacy, you have to understand the other guy. Kim knows that the only way he's leaving power is if he's dead. For him, it is life or death. He was certainly paying attention when Saddam Hussein lost his nuclear program and got overthrown, and when Muammar Gaddafi gave up his nuclear program and was overthrown, and when the Iranians signed a nuclear deal only to have the US impose sanctions again anyway (and call for their overthrow). If you were him, and you knew this history, would you give up your nukes? Of course not. We need to approach Kim with more than just lovey-dovey rhetoric combined with demands to disarm, like he's a child who's been naughty. There has to be a substantial offer that makes him feel he has a path toward safety even if he gives up his nukes. I don't hear anything like that coming from this administration, and certainly, neither does he. The template is the Iranian deal that Trump has abandoned but which actually worked. He seems to think he can single-handedly get a country to just give up all of its weapons at once, for nothing in return. He must learn that disarmament is more likely to be a multinational effort that occurs in phases over decades, and we have to be a partner in the process, not just a scolding parent.
306
@g Our "foreign policy" (just like our "domestic policy") has turned into "Short Attention Span Theater", and can be reviewed daily on state TV.
23
@g Trump “must learn”?? What?? Doesn’t he know it all?
15
@g
What you say would make sense if the DPRK was not a defacto province of The People's Republic of China and Russia, the two nations who created The DPRK and started the Korean war as well as promoted the maintenance of hostilities between the DPRK and the South for the last 65 years.
The Kim family are basically park rangers with authority to kill the people when they want to as long as they keep up the pressure via military expenditure on the US and its allies.
Pretending the DPRK is anything but a province of China and Russia is a fools errand.
9
The United States has been beaten. We have been beaten. We elected an egomaniac who has no grasp of reality. Our democratic system has decayed, rotted out by massive amounts of money, and a hereditary dictator has taken advantage of that.
We wanted our president to succeed. Of course we did. No one wanted the world to be so quickly turned into a planet that's so much more dangerous.
But is anyone really surprised at the news we read today? Perhaps one person is, but I haven't checked Fox News to find out what our president is being told about North Korea today.
15
Trumps been getting played from day one by Kim. Trump say's they are in love (his words). He had to know he isn't/wasn't negotiating with Kim, he is/was negotiating with China and Russia. Why do you think Kim met with the Russians and the Chinese both before meeting Trump and right after meeting Trump. Were not going to win Mr. President.
5
This really isn’t surprising at all. Trump will distort reality to appear to his base he is making America great again. That’s all that matters. Whatever needs to be done to stay in power and keep those rallies going.
To paraphrase Clint Eastwood; Trump’s a legend in his own mind.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are trying to figure out what our children’s futures will look like in a declining political and physical environment and at least mitigate disaster.
5
When will the US leave the Korean people alone and in peace. All the war-mongering readers and the tendentious authors of this so-called report ought to bear in mind it is the United States that invaded Korea. It is the United States that killed over 4 million Koreans and Chinese. It is the US that installed puppet dictatorships in Korea made up of former collaborators of the hated Japanese overlords. It is the US that tortured hundreds of thousands of Korean and Chinese prisoners of war. It is the US that never declared an end to the war. It is the US that has carried out endless 'mock' invasions with hundreds of thousands of troops to provoke the North Koreans. It is the US that threatened the Koreans with nuclear weapons for decades before they developed any. If anyone is actually interested in helping the people of Korea they should demand the US cease it's unending war.
Lastly, the US war against Korea has always been 100% bipartisan. The Democrats started the Korean War. Clinton and Obama ratcheted up the threats. While Trump is dispicable we shouldn't care who lessens the threats against Korea. It is interesting to hear the "peace-loving liberals" beating the war drum with greater ferocity than Trump. Perhaos they'll claim Trump is a Eussian-Korean puppet ! Puleese. It just goes to show that ultimately there is no difference between the twin war parties, Demoplicans and Republicrats.
5
@AR
"It is the US that installed puppet dictatorships in Korea made up of former collaborators of the hated Japanese overlords."
Yes. It's amazing but true. The majority of the U.S. invasion force consisted of 21 U.S. Navy ships, which unloaded at the port of Inchon, under the command of Lt. General John Reed Hodge. A force of armed, black-coated Japanese police on horseback protected the U.S. soldiers from angry crowds. The U.S. occupiers, initially, collaborated with Japanese Governor-General Abe Noabuyki, director of Korea's long-time Japanese occupiers. General Hodge declared to his officers that Korea is an enemy of the U.S., subject to the terms of the surrender, but the U.S. formed a close alliance with Japan. The subsequent "election" of Syngman Rhee was boycotted by nearly all Koreans except for the elite KDP and Rhee's right-wing political groups, so there was no popular support for Rhee, who was essentially a U.S.-backed dictator. Later, in North Korea, former collaborators with the Japanese occupation were not treated well
1
@AR
You seem to have forgotten that it was North Korea that invaded South Korea in summer of 1950. You do seem to have a poor grip on history.
2
The (name-sake) author of Art of the Deal once again demonstrates his prowess at negotiations. You’re right, Don. I’m getting utterly bored with “winning”.
3
This could become his excuse to start a war to try to extend his presidency.
2
@Fern The democrats have the house now and they won't go to war with North Korea unless they launch a nuclear attack /period . And trump can't start a war without congressional approval .
1
@donald carlon It's not January yet, donald, and his lackeys will fall in line and do his bidding as they always do.
This is much more worrisome than it appears, though not in the way one might think. Trump is in electoral trouble. He is a cornered animal. Like any cornered animal he is likely to strike out at his captors. The classical way a cornered ruler strikes out is to start a war with someone. That action distracts and tends to unify a nation behind its ruler. North Korea presents Trump with the perfect excuse to start a war. Kill millions to shut down the Russian investigation, to get the press to quiet down, to get re-elected. A war is on the way. Be aware.
6
@Peter Limon Democrats won't let trump start a war /period .
1
Donald's overwhelming need to be adored and flattered blinds him and his faithful followers to what is really happening, yet again.
Instead of 'Mission Accomplished with my Art of the Deal!" it's really "Look what they're doing in the mountains!"
Let's get that satellite surveillance system going, Donald, and then please go away. Your job requires an intelligent and sane person.
4
North Korean playbook. New president, saber rattling, then to negotiations, promises of change with a few symbolic gesture, then wait out the clock until the next administration.
2
That the Trump administration is struggling to get anything done on international level is nothing new but I think it is time to question why the NYT is getting this information right now. Could it be that some forces in the White House are playing the press and are trying to establish a narrative to justify more aggressive steps to solve the North Korea issue? I wouldn’t be surprised if President Trump’s own people are utilizing the NYT to get through to him.
1
This is a clear and unmistakable case of malpractice and deception by Trump on the American people, as well as our allies in Asia, and he knows it!
His lack of understanding, knowledge, or care can only be judged as Anti American behavior. Once the new congress is seated, he should be investigated and tried for his clearly dubious allegiance to our nation.
1
" I long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea." -- Donald Trump 6/13/2018
3
Probably NK intelligence worked out early on that Trump does not read long intelligence briefings or analyse national security matters and realised the Trump presidency to 2020 was a period when they could make major gains. I am sure they know quite a lot about those satellites already. If you remember how quickly the Singapore summit was organised, there was no diplomatic preamble or staking out of positions and the usual bilateral low-level meetings. There was just no time. It was all for show. He does not get what the job is about. The job is duty and service. The country is a not-for-profit. It is not about rallies when you’ve already got the job. Thankfully we have an excellent free press to keep him in check whilst issues like Khashoggi, Iran, climate change all swirl around him unresolved in the “too hard for me” basket.
2
Well, here is exposed another lying propaganda ploy by Trump, in trying to imitate Eisenhower's and Kennedy's meetings with Khrushchev and Nixon's meeting with Mao. I still hope against hope that the Democratic majority in the House will not wimp out (or allow sabotage from the corporate types) and do their duty to start the ending of Trump and his ilk. In that hope, with Churchill: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
2
Too bad Trump can totally sell us out to Rocket Man and still not lose a single vote, isn't it?
When it comes to North Korea and Kim Jung Un, Mr. Trump has clearly declared that he has "fallen in love". In case you are wondering, he has fallen in love with his own idea, which is nothing unusual for a narcissist who consider himself "a genus".
His idea is simple. Make unconditional peace with a sworn enemy of US at any cost, followed by a propaganda campaign to sell that as the best option for the US and world peace. In the meantime, ignore what that enemy does or does not, accept or reject. What is important is that, in the eyes of your supporters, you are now "a man of peace", and a true peace-maker!
That allows you to implement phase 2 of your great idea. With the credentials of a peace-maker in your back pocket, you cancel president Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, and keep calling it "the worst deal in the US history." You impose new sanctions on that country and, with the help of Saudis, foment unrest in that country's cities. Being in a corner, the Iranians will inevitably lash out, attacking the US or Saudis somewhere in the ME. You use that as the excuse to bomb their cities, and destroy all their infrastructures.
After a week of bombing, you stop and declare that you have achieved total victory. That will make you a "war president", which means the 2020 election will be in the bag, considering the facts that: 1) the war was imposed on you; 2) you have been victorious; 3) the cost of war was not high; and 4) you have a proven record of peace making.
3
The public may suddenly crave a general for president.
@Zeek
I would take a Colonel Sanders over trump.
3
@Technic Ally
Easy call.
Here's the real farce: No nation has ever mounted an armed nuclear device on top of an ICBM and launched it to a predetermined target and detonated the atomic device on the target. And North Korea is going to be the first nation to do that? And do it multiple times? Again, the real farce.
@Richard Mclaughlin What about the ‘Frigate Bird’ test by the US on 6 May 1962? There may also have been one by the Soviets using a small nuclear warhead in 1961. Easy enough to find the information with a quick Internet search.
Clearly these live tests were rare due to the high risk involved. Over the past 56 years technology has advanced enough for even North Korea to believe they could try one with much less risk than was the case in those days of vacuum tubes and analog timers.
2
We also haven’t flown an airliner into the sun to prove that it’s real hot in there.
1
I'm shocked, shocked, that Donald Trump could possibly be duped!
6
Any reasonable foreign policy expert from the last
twenty years would realize with North Korea's track record, when it has to come to negotiations, that they are never straight up about anything or even follow through on the most basic promises.
Granted the sanctions are still on but clearly it is not deterring anything. China and others states are doing business with Kim and working to undermine our credibility, as well as the free world's, toward nuclear deterrence as well as making the Korea peninsula no safer.
Our President needs to heed the information in this story, where is that Power Point when you need it? I hope that his Cabinet and security officials will. You wonder where in the world is John Bolton is on this?
I am sure Putin and Jinping are thoroughly enjoying this unraveling of our foreign policy. It is disturbing that rhetoric from Trump's stroking of his own ego is what is more important than sound policy.
Sadly what we will instead see is a Trump twitter storm later this afternoon instead of the actions necessary that will protect our allies and the American people.
The Senate needs to get in the act here too and start checking this President. Mitch, Lindsey and other GOP leaders are simple becoming the rubber stamp for gross negligence by this Administration in too many areas of US interests and foreign policy.
3
North Korea is an old issue for Trump. The terrible invasionary caravan of 3,000 or 4,000 refugees took over, and now after coming back from France he has resumed insulting and threatening our allies from 100 years ago.
Trump really doesn't seem to want to take a long-term focus on most anything. FIlling critical empty spots across the Departments? Nah. Ridding inner cities of crimes and getting them the greatest jobs and schools? Nah. The best infrastructure and medical plans in the history of the world? Nah.
None of that plays to his audicence, and he only craves attention and approval from the roaring fans.
2
#45 is the biggest threat to nuclear war ever. More than the Cuban crisis, more than anyone.
Is it treason to aide the enemy by exercising that EGO to lie to us so we should believe that RNK has abated its destructive program?
How will the GOP blame everyone else for our next war?
Our country is so vulnerable...
4
THEY truly deserve each other. The rest of us, not so much.
Thanks, GOP. You sure can pick'em.
Seriously.
6
Let's call this what it is, a PR ploy for both sides. Trump gets to look like a real diplomat, Kim gets an introduction to the rest of the world. Make nice for the cameras, produce a few headlines, network with people you can do business with, (real, above board business), and then go on with what you were doing, (witness the military exercises in the South, and now, operational missiles in the North). But they have made news, and that's what counts.
1
This column unfairly portrays Trump as having no reaction to the North Korean deceit.
In fairness to Trump, he was coordinating the much more serious threat of the exercise of their first amendment rights by American journalists by ensuring that White House response included the most suitable doctored video showing Jim Acosta in the worst possible light...
Seriously, what does the President do all day? Watch TV and tweet?
How many hours of this presidency have been allotted to golf and executive time?
How many intelligence briefings has he had? Or, does he only get briefed by Fox News???
7
This is no surprise. Don't all countries with nuclear capabilities (and missiles, of course) going to have missile bases? The only difference here is this country is run by a megalomaniac dictator; like Russia and the (wannabe dictator) here in the USA.
2
Like.. did anyone really believed North Korea would really give up their nuclear missiles? Will not gonna happen, as long as USA exist on this planet.
Trump must have not read the writings on the wall. If you are like most Americans you are naive when it comes to dealing with N.Korea.
Kim Jung Un will never ever, I repeat, he will never ever give up nuclear arsenals as long as he is in power period. All US policy towards N.K. have to start with that fact.
2
"Trust but Verify".
Now who said that?
3
Authoritarian leaders have a code all their own. Grinning ear to ear, Putin gave Trump an enthusiastic thumbs-up at the ceremony in Paris.
Translation: You are the man! Great job so far. Listen, you still want those hotels in Moscow? You want our guys should run interference for you once the House starts getting into your personal business? How about we collude (only this time more carefully) on a limited cyberattack on US infrastructure so you can declare a national emergency and impose martial law? That'll set things up for 2020: we can work out a replay of 2016, you know, do a targeted disinformation number on social media so you can lose the popular vote and still come out on top. Cuz it's all about winning, right? Just have your guys contact my guys, only no more meetings in hotels, OK? . . . oh, and keep up the good work!
2
This really does not qualify as news. It is a series of suggestions from liberal pundits based on satellite imagery that if actually from a national security apparatus (which it is not) would not have been released without breaking the law. Total Garbage and disappointing the way the article is portrayed as fact. I like how they threw in Trump stopping an Obama program that was set to "save the day" . Bad reporting, false assumptions and more comments from intelligence officials unnamed who are releasing unauthorized material or just dislike an upset of our intelligence apparatus and new thinking of actually changing how ineffective they have been.
No problem.
Just give me my Trump Tower on the beach after 2020.
It does not take much to outwit Trump. But you never know if he knows he has been had. He automatically lies to sell himself and to cause distraction. North Korea is not going to eliminate all their work on nuclear weapons just because Trump wants him to. But Trump cannot bring himself to believe that Un is not his friend. I believe that many world leaders are laughing at (not with) Trump. Before he was president, he said that Obama (and the US) was not respected by other world leaders. But currently, most world leaders dislike and don't trust our fake leader. It's to bad that many will not separate Trump from the US, and that will have very long term consequences.
274
@Paul Raffeld - Personally, I think the only connection between reality and what Trump says is whether Trump thinks he can twist actual events into a sales pitch.
11
@Paul Raffeldi i would say that most people outside of the US, if my experience is anything to go by, do distinguish between Trump and the US. We are hoping he’s an outlier, not the norm.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
12
@Paul Raffeld
The lies are how he dissociates the losses so that he can go on pretending he is a winner.
Don't forget it is his deep insecurity that is the biggest driver of his ego.
11
Please, this has nothing to do with Trump, despite NYT readers' love of Trump bashing. Rather, if you have several actors, some of whom possess very powerful weapons, it will motivate the have-nots to acquire those weapons. It is simple game theory. The only way out of this cycle is for everyone to disarm and police the world aggressively so that the nuclear arms do not reappear anywhere.
Same can be said of fossil fuels.
1
@No green checkmark
So, nothing about the nuclear positioning of NK changed once Trump entered the White House?
3
@No green checkmark. I remind you that Trump, very boastfully, gloated about how he single handedly ended North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, something that previous failures of administrations were unable to do.
Therfore Trump owns the failure, as the previous presidents own theirs, so, it is about Trump.
It appears the con artist from Queens was out conned by someone half his age.
5
You are confusing the causes of two separate things. By awarding Un a summit in exchange for nothing, Trump elevates a weak, petty dictator to the status of international statesman. In his usual manner, Trump then allows himself to believe that he correctly understood Un in the first thirty seconds after meeting him. Trump then makes huge claims for having neutralized Un through negotiations, while wiser minds noted that, in fact, he got nothing concrete from the summit. Un then continues to build his weaponry, while Trump ignores the peril, wrongly believing to have been neutralized. "Simple game theory" may have motivated Un, but Trump alone ignores Un, while Un continues arming. Please, elaborate: How do you claim that "NYT readers' love of Trump bashing" is to blame for Trump's ignoring reality and his own ignorance?
2
The great negotiator is out of his depth when the negotiations do not involve illegal real estate transactions.
32
Such a comfort to know that marginal cabinet members of the President run a State Department with few ambassadors and less experienced staff than any president on record.
27
"The revelation of the bases comes as Mr. Trump’s signature piece of diplomacy, based on his meeting exactly five months ago with Mr. Kim, appears in peril."
Our country is in peril with every action, comment, outrageous lie, and embarrassing posture committed by Trump here and abroad. He is not smart, a great businessman, a great negotiator, or presidential. He is so far in over his head that he doesn't even know it is spinning. And Americans are suffering as a result. Counting the days until January 20, 2019.
20
@MEM 2021.
3
@ThePB. Right you are. But, in the meantime I am looking at the new Democratically-controlled Congress to stop the madness. Baby steps...
1
I wonder how much of this debacle has resulted from President Trump's lying. He constantly presented a rosy picture when that wasn't true. When the North Koreans heard Trump's deceptions, they may have felt emboldened to proceed full-steam ahead, knowing that the full truth wasn't exposed and knowing that this too-proud man would not reverse himself. As it stands, Trump has not denounced them - as he should - which essentially validates their gamble.
12
Noone seems to be listening to what the USA says and this weakens your nations status as a superpower.
As NZ territorial waters include the Southern Ocean and we police it, we're a bit worried that China or Russia might see us as another small island nation to add to their territories, now that the Antarctic is becoming more important to China and Russia for fishing and there's a wealth of oil down there. We're also a back door into Australia.
7
I know the deception was expected, but it’s still incredibly disappointing. At the Olympics, we got a glimpse of what could be. Kim was lying and Trump is not going to call him on it.
The nuclear threat will be passed on to the next president, unsolved and perhaps exacerbated.
10
Sounds like Mr. Cha has an axe to grind with the Trump administration. Rolling out a couple of grainy photographs that are heavily annotated and show no compelling evidence is an insult to our intelligence. Beyond Parallel is a Washington think tank who lays claim to to be an "organization that has a successful track record of conducting discrete and careful surveys in North Korea." They, Beyond Parallel, "supplemented the satellite imagery with interviews of North Korean defectors and government officials around the world." this forms the provenance from which Mr. Cha and Ms. Lisa Collins base their report. There's little doubt, given North Korea's past history, that there's some nefarious activity afoot, but to make such grand claims regarding NK's nuclear armaments based on what was published today, I highly doubt.
3
@Kurt Pickard grainy photgraphs are not required to establish the demonstrated incompetence displayed by the leadership of Trump and his Administration - managing the NK portfolio is only 1 of many obvious messes - perhaps he may even learn eventually the difference between the Baltics and the Balkans.
2
The thing I adore about this kind of thinking is that it always seems to come from the same folks who believe that the reason that the actual inspections of Iran’s nuclear stuff and the actual hunts for Iraq’s WMDs turned up nothing is that they’s too wily for us.
I’d ask why Mike Pompeo would be saying that the DPRK’s cheating, but I bet he turns out to be in the Deep State, too.
1
@Kurt Pickard
You need to take off those Trump-worship rose colored glasses.
1
Another well played hand by Kim to rid the oceans of military exercises, just as Russia wanted. trump, Kim and Putin are all smiles.
The idea was never to give up missiles or nuclear development initiatives. It was simply to give trump a photo-op and podium to "say the words" and then, in true trump consistent fashion, lie to the Nations's face again, as he has done since 2015.
It's was the GOP, the Republican Nationalist Party, that was outsmarted, not the Nation. Instead, the Nation is the victim of lying.
The Nation is put in peril as trump embraces and empowers dictators and isolates the US from our Allies who would otherwise take us to task for our actions.
Just as Macron did so eloquently this weekend.
14
I believe the sanctions are still in place and the only official concession was not holding the military exercises. However, the impact of sanctions may be largely controlled by China.
To my knowledge no long range missile flights have occurred but that does not mean other design work is not occurring.
The appearance of U. S. relations with N. K. seem improved by the lack of missile test near allies and the lack of heated insults going both ways.
My concern is that it does not fit that N. K. would put forth a friendly face in spite of sanctions.
We need to remember Trump inherited a nuclear Korea and did not create it. We need to support a solution and not use the issue as a political weapon.
@John
I do not disagree with the fact that trump inherited a line of administrations' history with North Korea and appreciate your other points.
My point is to connect subterranean dots: North Korea's technology is largely Russian. North Korea and Russia are allies and now trump has further enabled that relationship. I do not believe that is in the better interests of the US.
We do not know what was discussed in the trump/Kim summit because it was secret. But we do know, the waters are opened and now are a free space for Russia and North Korea to do, God knows what.
Foreign policy in this administration is a shell game wherein, there is no prize under the walnut shell. Just promises to go North and then trek South (all pun intended)
Just because the snake stops hissing does not mean it's left the grass.
2
While President Trump’s tweets about nearly everything are inconsistent, his policies toward totalitarian countries, those without freedom of the press and with enough nuclear weapons to destroy the U.S. are very consistent. He denies his own American National Security teams findings, and enables, by word and deed, our potential enemies. His consistency in putting the U.S. at risk of massive destruction, begs the question - who is he working for, and why is he undermining our national security?
9
What's a little harmless deceit among lovers? With Trump, it's always about the narrative, often written on the fly, but always of the moment. Next week, we could be at war with North Korea, should the whims of war prevail. Followed up a week later with Kim's formal surrender (not really) on the USS Missouri. As long as it's not raining.
4
Yet another example of the Trump method: make a bad situation much worse,then boast about brilliantly you handled it. Meanwhile, his loyal supporters continue to imitate their hero,in this above all else.
15
@Tim Hunter. In watching a documentary about the Kim dynasty I was amused at the witless adoration the people of North Korea exhibit toward their “great leader” and the parallel adoration Trump supporters exhibit toward him and those supporters will never admit Trump has made mistakes, and that they were hoodwinked.
Can Trump bear to recognize -- in his own mind, much less publicly -- that his "diplomacy" with North Korea has failed and that the nuclear threat North Korea poses to the United States is increasing? And, if not, how will that threat be lessened?
5
I wonder what the Trump supporter who said “I don’t know that anything he says is true, but I trust him” feels about this. Probably the same, and therein lies the biggest problem.
12
Of course. I knew that, not the details, but I think I will believe Trump because reality is too painful. We continue to have no functioning government.
4
Trump is a one trick pony. If he can't get anywhere withholding or threatening to withhold money, he's out of ideas. Unfortunately for him and us, not everyone is a singularly focused on money as he is and will look for other options. My mother used to say that when my siblings and I were fighting with each other it meant that she must be doing something right - we weren't ganging up on a common enemy, namely her. Are we seeing the beginning of the world starting to gang up on a common enemy?
7
I would not be surprised to see that close up pictures shows construction equipment with the words 'Trump Organization Construction Co.' on the side.
4
Looks and sounds like a failure of negotiations.
3
"Mr. Trump … 'would then declare victory, say he got more than any other American president ever got, and the threat would still be there.’”
In Trump the North Koreans have their perfect opponent. Trump doesn’t rely on or fully comprehend intelligence to make decisions. He relies solely on his own feelings and disregards facts. Furthermore, Trump doesn’t admit mistakes at any level. Not only does Trump not admit any failings, he continues down the failing path with increased intensity. Trump will continue to tell everyone about the great deal that he made with North Korea all the while North Korea is continuing to increase and perfect its nuclear weaponry. Kim Jung-un could not be more pleased to be working with Trump. Kim wins with every hand he plays when Trump is his opponent.
Trump failed specularly in the casino business in much the same way that he’s failing with North Korea only this time Trump doesn’t have his father attempting to protect Trump from his monumental blunders. All of us are at risk as Trump remains completely clueless as to what is really happening in North Korea.
9
Trump got trumped. Who didn’t see that coming?
11
As a citizen living in s. korea under the constant nuclear threat from n. korea, with all due respect, I am utterly dissapointed by the times article that seems to undermine the peace process, which i believe,is progressing under the shrewd diplomatic skills of trump combined with moon's soft-line policy toward DPRK. In my opinion,nyt is doing nothing but stoking fear among the u.s public who may believe any slightest degree of unusual action taken by kim may translate into triggering the launch of nuclear missile capable of reaching the continental U.S. In light of recent diplomatic overtures made by three leaders,with much credit to Mr. Trump who surely played a pivotal role in this, we should give more time to this historic developments that may come to fruition in the not too distant future if three states put more effort into it. In the mean time, we should be a bit more tolerant and patient toward any minimal degree of deviance from North Korea unless we want to face what could be the most destructive war in the history of mankind.
4
@Alex Sung
With all due respect to your hopes for a good deal for peace between South Korea, North Korea, the USA, and China, one regime's cheating is not the fault of the others. It is North Korea that should give peace a chance. All the other countries are doing their part.
I share your hopes for a good deal for all our countries.
1
Why would this surprise anyone? We have a clandestine country that doesn't trust the West and a naive US president, a self-proclaimed expert in foreign policy.
I've often thought what it'd be like to be at a poker table with trump. He'd likely lose at poker as well. Boasting a good hand is not the same as winning.
4
If the polls in 2020 suggest that the Trump administration is going to lose I’m sure the brave bone spurred commander in chief will declare war as the ultimate distraction. By then Hannity will be Secretary of State and Hillary will have been locked up.
5
One of the numerous flaws the president exhibits is his belief that he can bend anyone to his will. After all, he is the world's greatest salesman- something he continually boasts about. His assertion that we have nothing to fear from North Korea is indicative of his belief in the cult of personality. With no interest in the details of governance, Trump says what comes to mind and this makes him a dangerous demagogue.
1
It's important to remember that the greatest supposed threat to American security ahead of the midterms was a caravan of unarmed Honduran peasants. There appear to be no limits to Trump's incompetence and his personal threat to our country.
9
It’s about time we realize that everything Trump says is meaningless.
4
These bases, obviously in existence since long before the recent that in US-DPRK relations, are bargaining chips in whatever process unfolds.
Has the US taken any steps of its own to remove threats to the North?
Beyond delaying some military exercises, no.
If you were Kim, would you simply unilaterally give away assets that are part of what the negotiations would resolve?
Pretty darn unlikely.
Yes, these facilities represent a threat. Want them gone? Then put them on the table at the negotiations.
Apparently, it's not just Donald Trump who thinks he can get something for nothing when he negotiates. Now his critics are stealing a page from Trump's playbook. I don't think that's really helpful here. Yes, Trump overstated the gains so far. That's just Trump's usual approach. The North has nothing to do with the fact that our president can't keep himself from lying when he thinks he'll gain something by it. It also doesn't make the North more threatening than it was already.
2
A presidency as incompetent, reckless and self-indulgent as this was unimaginable before Sarah Palin was conjured from virtual oblivion and given political life by Steve Schmidt and John McCain.
Now, Senator McCain is gone and Mr. Schmidt seems to be doing his best at what appears to be a truly heartfelt penance for his part in this national and increasingly international catastrophe.
What Palin's emergence signaled to the GOP was that "plausible competence" didn't matter anymore, and by the time Trump came along the heavy lifting had already been done, the lesson well learned and we are now reaping the disastrous result.
Until the GOP is willing to accept the fact that the going concern that this country represents is more important than winning elections and maintaining power we will continue to put ourselves at grave risk while this nincompoop remains president.
Imagine a man (if you're not too terrified) possessing Trump's analytical resources being asked to make daily life and death decisions concerning what should be done in places like Syria, Afghanistan/Pakistan, Russia and China.
His performance in France this weekend was as shameful as anything I've ever been witness to. He made a mockery of himself and this country.
6
Let there be no doubt: President Trump was completely outsmarted and outmaneuvered by Kim Jong-un. The greatest deception in this whole nuclear waltz has been how Trump deceived himself into claiming diplomatic victory and passing it on like a virus to American perceptions. No one has died yet, but truth is in critical condition.
9
Not to worry, New Zealand ground satellite 'spy moles' have confirmed that the sites are in fact (as claimed by the POTUS privately), new golf courses that are soon to be furnished with joint-venture luxury hotels.
2
Saber rattling from the New York Times. Why would any reasonable person expect North Korea to give up its missile program even as the US invest over a billion dollars to upgrade its arsenal while refusing to rule out first-strikes as an option? The military industrial complex does not want peace. In actuality, South Korea and North Korea have made great strides, improving their relations while deescalating tension. What kind of 'deal' does the US want? What few American know is that the US mercilessly killed 1/4 of the North Korea population during the Korean war when, using its air superiority, it bombed everything that moved. The US even bombed dams in an attempt to bring about mass famine. Given this history, why would North Korea, which has witnessed US invasions of Iraq and Libya, ever be tempted to completely disarm? The idea that Americans cannot only maintain eternal military superiority over every region in the world, but constantly attempt to increase it while insisting that the regimes it surrounds militarily unilaterally disarm in a way that leaves the vulnerable to attack from the US is preposterous. The reality is that the US does not want peace. The presumed 'threat' of North Korea is necessary to justify massive military bases throughout East Asia, especially in South Korea and Japan. Trump may be an idiot, but he has amply demonstrated that peace with North Korea is possible if the US wants it.
1
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
7
@JDLewis
The question, Alex, is, "Who lied when he read these big words?"
@JDLewis
A liar is always a liar, presence of bible and oath-of-office not withstanding. It is beside the point that he did "solemnly swear" about any matter.
Kim has artfully duped the Art of the Deal guy in a major, major way.
“Publicly, Mr. Trump remains relentlessly optimistic, to the point that he said at a campaign rally that he and Mr. Kim, one of the world’s most brutal dictators, “fell in love.”’
So like the Donald, another amorous entanglement like that with his bro Putin. Our President clearly has a thing for entanglements with larger than life strongmen in high places.
Were all of this not existentially dangerous in apocalyptic global terms it would be monumentally laughable.
14
Re: "...Publicly, Mr. Trump remains relentlessly optimistic, to the point that he said at a campaign rally that he and Mr. Kim, one of the world’s most brutal dictators, “fell in love..." {@G. Sears}
I remember witnessing similar, (101% inappropriate), optimism by...E.J. Smith /J. Hazelwood / Francesco Schettino...
{Ship's master's...R.M.S. Titanic, S.S. Exxon Valdez, and S.S. Costa Concordia, (respectively)}!!
Mr. Trump, playtime is over. Please step outside and let grown-ups, men and women, handled this job.
12
I'm confused. Trump said Kim honored his handshake, which was most important of all.
Is the Times saying this is not so?
12
Donald Trump and Jared Kushner were manipulated and horribly duped by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Kushner thought the Saudi Prince would support his Middle East peace plan and wound up being hoodwinked. MBS dangled it in front of Kushner like a carrot on a stick. Instead of a Middle East peace plan, Trump and Kushner wound up being best buddies with a murderer. Oops.
I thought it was obvious from the beginning the Kim Jong-un was manipulating Trump. It’s easily done, as Vladimir Putin has already demonstrated. A little flattery, coupled with a grandiose photo op summit meeting, and you’ve got it. Duped again, by another murderer.
Mr. Kim bought himself more time to dig in and further develop his nuclear capability. He made a fool of Trump and the United States of America. The only people who don’t see that are Fox News and the Republican Party. It has the potential for horrible tragic consequences.
The whirlwind media circus Donald Trump thrives on is having grievous consequences. Very important issues get lost in the blur of constantly changing stories. Serious discussion of real issues is becoming next to impossible. At some point, a price will be paid.
398
@John M
Trump and Kushner are finding out what those of us without their overweening egos always new: this stuff is a whole lot harder than NYC real estate development. They are under-equiped to play at this level.
So much for Trumps much vaunted "gut." Next time perhaps listening to people who have spent their professional lives studying an issue might just be a better way to go. But then again I dream, don't I?
We'll be lucky to get out of the Trump Era without someone getting killed. Maybe lot of someones.
45
@John M
It won’t be paid by Trump or his family.
14
@John M
The problem is that Trump's "negotiations" typically involved making promises in bad faith.
He has agreed to preserve artifacts (Bonwitt-teller decorations) and then destroyed them. He has signed work contracts and not paid them or has refused to pay unless there is a massive price reduction.
Trump's "go-to" negotiation strategy is bad faith.
In addition to the basic immorality of this tactic (now also the "go-to" tactic of the Republican party), it has at least two weaknesses:
1. If those on the other side are also bad-faith negotiators, Trump has an excellent chance of being "bad-faithed".
2. If the issue is existential, the other side has no choice but to deal with the bad-faith with a drastic response.
With Mr. Kim, Trump has managed to hit both of these problems.
13
These nuclear capabilities are not dissuasion: North Korea had always been safe with the status quo, with no risk that the US (let alone South Korea) attack it over some human-rights abuses, considering that the price to pay would have been some heavy-artillery shelling of South Korea’s urban centers.
North Korea however has a lot to lose from the nuclear program: it is getting sanctions hurting it pretty badly over it.
So why the nuclear program? The only reasonably explanation is that some other countries (China and probably Russia too) are the ones actually winning from it, and most probably are supplying direct financial and technical support for it. China gets itself a puppet state that can threaten the US, and maybe even attack someday, with some plausible deniability. If North Korea decides to nuke (or threatens to) some US ships in the South China sea that are bothering China, would the US go to war with China over it? Most probably not. A nuclear North Korea gives China a lot of new options in case of a conflict or an imminent conflict.
And peace with South Korea, which has not much to do with mutual safety (it does not bring much to the status quo), has more to do about raising the stakes for the US to do any preemptive attack against that threat. It is in effect pitting South Korea’s interests against the US.
10
@Bob Robert
One thought of why a nuclear program is important to Kim Jung-on is the same reason Pakistan did it.
It gives them bargaining power and makes the world put them in another category and gives them status.
As far as sanctions, as long as Russia and China are willing to look the other way, North Korea is surviving and Kim Jung-on lives well no matter what.
@Independent Pakistan did not have the nuisance capacity of North Korea. If they had hundreds of artillery pieces directly pointed at New Delhi would they have bothered with a nuclear program? Your status argument is quite overrated as well, because the only time people think of Pakistan’s nuclear power is when they are worried it will lose control of them. You don’t lead a nuclear program just for status, but indeed because it gives you bargaining power; but as I said, North Korea does not need that leverage because they already have South Korea as a hostage.
Regarding sanctions, I don’t think you can argue that Kim doesn’t care about North Korea being an economic dwarf, even if the regime’s survival (and Kim’s own wealth) is certain. It is just that the regime has higher priorities. Keeping China happy is one, because without China the regime’s survival (and Kim’s own wealth) suddenly isn’t that certain.
He was conned. An amateur in every possible way. I sincerely doubt he will be President much longer. The Republican hierarchy will ask him to resign.
6
@ohio
Yea, he was totally conned on N. Korea just like the former president was totally conned by Iran (as evidenced by the Israeli commando team raid earlier this year) .The Iran deal prohibited inspections anything Iran decided to call "military instillations"? You don't think Los Alamos and Oak Ridge were U.S. "military instillations". Yea, the inspectors inspected everything they were "allowed' to inspect. What a can...on both of them.
@Mark Shyres And you don't think Israel has a vested interest in what they say about Iran?
The only solution, South Korea develops nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of taking out Beijing and Mr. Yi Jinping, Moscow and Vladimir Putin, and Hong Kong and Shanghai. Only then will North Korea's facilitators take action.
And that would take South Korea about 1 to 2 years to do. Maybe along the way, when China and Russia come to realize that South Korea means business they'll get with Kim Jong-Un.
2
Some famous basketball player from USA is a friend of North Koreas mentally unstable leader. Go figure! What sort of message is that sending to the rest of the world about USAs seriousness in taking weapons of mass destruction away from North Korea. Also, there were no repercussions when that young kid was jailed for stealing a poster off a hotel wall before going home, and they sent him back to the USA brain dead. No wonder the world doesn't fear the USA anymore as it knows the USA doesn't have the clout or nonce to do anything about it; and all USA does is lower themselves to the same level in sabre rattling. Actions speak louder than words. Pakistan has nuclear and so does Iran and now North Korea, who will it be next? Each nation that gets nuclear weakens USA as a superpower.
4
@CK
I don't believe Iran has nuclear missiles.
Israel, on the other hand, is estimated to have several hundred. They, like Pakistan, will not sign the non-nuclear proliferation treaty.
1
This story suggests that Trump has been played for a sucker by Kim, but we know that’s impossible because Little Donnie is a Stable Genius. Some people are saying that the satellite images of NK cheating were forged by the Democrats.
10
Ah, this explains his glum mood in France. He wasn't thinking of the soldiers who gave their lives in wars. He's been 'betrayed' by Kim and he's depressed. Who is surprised?!!
7
Yep, so much for love at first sight!
5
What I cannot fathom about the Americans who continue to support President Trump and his unhinged ambitions is how they are either willfully blind to, or unconcerned with his recklessness and unflappable devotion to the perception of winning at all costs. This 'strategy' has no end game, it is simply a measuring contest that he is desperate to win to compensate for his, um, shortcomings.
The nuclear powers of the world have avoided nuclear war because our actions are guided by logical reasoning and the threat of retaliation. Mr. Trump has demonstrated time and again that his behavior is not based on any reason or logic, only self-interest. Anyone who understands the multitude of intricacies of diplomacy knows how foolish this is.
But his position allows him to give orders that have the potential to end civilization as we know it; he's even gone so far as to brag about how much power he has, while lamenting the fact that so many people don't want him to use it.
He's a child throwing a tantrum when told he can't play with his toys...
You'll shoot you eye out kid. Merry Christmas - Ho. Ho. Ho.
10
It's really very simple, North Korea will never give up their nuclear weapons.
9
You can pretty much count on the opposite of whatever trump says.
6
Trujmp's program has been canceled and will not be renewed. Maybe he can come up with a new TV program for his followers that are left.
4
Trump is only interested in presenting a shining golden globe while hiding all the worms inside.
3
"We are in no rush". Mr. Trump, you better be in a rush. Here's a suggestion, free of charge, I'm sure you'll like that. We finish that new system of smaller radars, we identify all of the sites and keep them under surveillance 24/7 and we'll have an hour to take them out in case of a planned attack. Who'll pay for it? I'm sure the Democrat controlled House of Representatives would allocate the money, this is a true national security menace, and we could put to better use the 20 billion you wanted to build that worthless border wall.
In the "nuclear game" deterrent is everything, your love for Mr. Kim can wait..
8
The only constant about Trump are his lies and delusional thinking. Sane, rational people assumed that it was folly and lies when he uttered statements that North Korea had dismantled their nuclear arms.
It's easy to know what's really happening when he makes a statement: the opposite is the actual truth.
9
Take a close look how North Korea and China lured our troops up North only to get ambushed during the Korean War. See any similarities?...Our President is being suckered into a bad, bad predicament. His lies and ego are, leading us down deadly trail.
4
But... but... I thought love was in the air?
5
President RainDrop's little judgement has been overwhelmed by the charm offensive from Kim and Vladimir.
5
Breaking news: a totalitarian regime with no respect for human rights, who ceaselessly provokes the global community, and whose concentration camps are comparable to the Nazis' in savagery...lies.
Really, this should surprise no one. So why, exactly, are Moon Jae-in and the US government acting as though this is the time North Korea is finally going to clean up its act? Moon even recommended Trump for the Peace Prize because he got taken in so deeply.
These are the people who are supposed to be the experts—or at least bring a dose of realism to the table. But South Korea is so obsessed with the idea of reuniting with her ex that she's basically ignoring Kim's addiction to deception, domination, and terrifying cruelty, and just listening to his empty gestures and meaningless promises.
South Korea, he's just not good for you. You can't believe his lies.
1
The Fake News failing N.Y. Times is at it again.
It will even refute the obvious, that President Trump is the only American leader who has even made a dent in the North Korean nuclear buildup in over 30 years. There has not been a single nuclear test, or even a missile firing since the landmark meeting between the Kim and Trump earlier in the year.
Trump and Kim now have a personal bond. This friendship is something that Kim values greatly, made even more so when the American president acknowledged that the friendship has blossomed into "love."
It's time for this newspaper to stop fighting reality, and acknowledge that our country has been blessed by a courageous brilliant leader who is saving our world.
(Hey, look this over and show it to the boss-- but be sure not to hit that submit button until he approves.)
2
@Call Me Al You appear to not have read the article or paid attention. No real change was agreed upon, and no real change occurred after the talks between Trump and Kim. All that occurred was Kubuki theatre for Trumps uneducated supporters, to have them think that something got done because Trump had created a crisis atmosphere in the world by his aggressive threats and abusive tweeting with a nuclear power prior to "solving" the crisis by his show talks.
I suspect it's going to be rough from here on out for the so-called potus, until he's out of office. Let's hope he doesn't do anything too stupid in what time is left. That, of course, is wishful thinking.
5
Trump supporters don't care if North Korea has a nuclear program. To Trump supporters, North Korea and the Russian Federation are not the enemies of MAGA and its clueless cypher.
To Trump supporters, the real enemies are the West Coast and East Coast so-called liberal elites.
Because Trump supporters fervently believe in the End Time, Armageddon, the Apocalypse, which must precede the Second Coming when Trump supporters will take up their rightful places for all eternity alongside God, Jesus, Mary et al, while the rest of us are condemned to eternal suffering and Hellfire, the destruction by nuclear warheads of West Coast dens of iniquity such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, and even better the annihilation of an East Coast nest of vipers such as New York, is merely part of God's plan.
3
Unloading all our nuclear weapons on desolate and distant NK is probably a far more economical form of disarmament for us than trying to have to dismantle them here and then figure out what to do with all the poisonous nuclear waste. NK might be a better repository for it than Yucca Flat in some prohibitively expensive deep hole in Nevada, plus one less fly to swat as well. At least the seemingly endless election coverage was a harmless distraction while it lasted. Maybe string out the Florida and Arizona recounts into infinity and dispense with reality forever.
1
People keep talking about Trump as though he exists in a vacuum. This is not the case.
Trump is constantly enabled by the Republican leadership.
They put up with Trump to implement their agenda:
Massive Tax Cuts for their Rich,
Conservative Takeover of the Judiciary,
.. (Fill in your own choice).
Trump is only the tool, however imperfect and dangerous..
11
The scariest thing is that come 2020 , this man, Trump has a 50% chance of being re-elected.
8
Ah, but as Mr. Trump has noted, Chairman Kim has such a great personality.
6
This is the point at which Trump's psychological makeup becomes very dangerous for America and perhaps the world. He cannot admit to personal failure; how will he handle NK clearly duping him and in the process becoming genuinely dangerous to the world?
He'll do what he always does: distort the facts, i.e., lie, to claim a victory and move on to the next opportunity to declare a "win." In the meantime NK will become even more firmly entrenched in the nuclear family. In reading "Fear" one thing that comes through loud and clear is that Trump has no regard for facts when they contravene his beliefs. He is truly a member of the "I know what I know and don't try to confuse me with the facts" club.
And let's face facts, NK is a nuclear power, they will not use that power unless threatened with destruction, and we will not try to destroy them preemptively because that's simply not who we wish to go down in history as. So, in the end let's just do what we all know will eventually need to be done and open up trade with them. Chip away at their abysmal human rights stance through channels opened up by trade deals. Just like we do with every other nuclear tipped quasi-enemy in the world.
Enough chest thumping. The cat is out of the bag as far as NK is concerned so let's find a sensible way of dealing with it. Cats don't like yelling; cats like treats.
2
With nations like India, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea possessing weapons of mass destruction, its only a matter of time before some disgruntled, underpaid worker decides to activate one of those weapons.
The more nations that have nuclear then the bigger the chance of a disaster happening and a nuclear winter because of some disgruntled worker sabotaging the weapons because of a grudge they hold, or some other hatred for USA or whatever nation they can aim the weapons at.
When people are disgruntled and hold grudges against their employer they can do terrible damage because human creatively will find a way to get revenge. One example on a smaller scale, at this moment in time, is that strawberry farm supervisor in Australia who put needles in strawberries and caused nationwide chaos.
So, in order to grasp what might be called the truth in the not too distant past, you take what Trump says and turn it 180 degrees.
2
Maybe, but did you see the beautiful letter that Kim sent Trump? It was in a very large envelope. And in the end, isn't that what really matters?
5
How can anyone support a President who is willing to lie about nuclear disarmament by a hostile nation to gain praise?
Once of my favorite quotes from the movie Hook is when Robin Williams promising his son that he will be at his little league game says "My word is my bond" and the son replies "yeah junk bonds".
This is Trump. To gain praise and voter approval he is willing to lie and mislead the Anerican public about Korea's nuclear program.
Further, Is anyone surprised Fox News did not discover and/or report it? When you can't trust your president or your news outlets, who can you trust? The sooner Trump is relieved of his duties as President, the safer this country will be.
203
@sbanicki And that can’t be soon enough!
1
@sbanicki After the Times misled us on Iraqi weapons, can we really trust this reporting? I’m in favor of continuing talks with North Korea as long as they take. And also Russia, Iran and whomever else wishes to talk to our government. I’m not a fan of Trump and I don’t feel in danger. The last major attack, 9/11, could be argued arose from Clinton era policy.
@sbanicki "How can anyone support a President who is willing to lie about nuclear disarmament by a hostile nation "
It goes well beyond that. Trump's announcment to unilaterally abandon the INF treaty with Russia and taking no action whatsoever to extend the New-START nuclear treaty which expires soon are direct threats to our security, the Western world, and humanity itself. Without action by the administration in two years there will be no limits at all on the production and deployment of nuclear weapons for the first time since 1972.
6
Best deal-maker EVER!!!!
17
@roman. Bestist... On Trumps level... Like a three-year-old...
Our dear leader is communicating to us as a 3rd world dictator would. The Art of the Big Lie where all information goes through him or it is not true.
14
First you exchange insults and threats with him, then you fall in love with him and then you lick his boots. Some way to" make America great again."!!
14
Trump played for a fool once again.
9
Trump is being played as a chump. The North Koreans know very well that he is all about image and since he clearly believes his own lies, he will find those of others credible when they serve his purposes. It's actually hard to say that he believes in anything at all other than his own infallibility as a self-declared genius. He is a dangerously foolish man.
16
Donald, you've been SCAMMED.
Delicious.
7
Back in the post-Singapore lovefest, I wondered how long it would take for Kim to run around and bite Trump on the leg.
I shoudda been making book.
p.
5
So Trump fell for all the fawning by North Korea and all that ego stroking blinded him to the fact that he was being conned right, left and sideways. Why would anybody expect this would turn out any differently?
9
A) Who’s satellite is taking these photos?
B) Who is giving these photos to the NYTimes?
2
@Jean-Paul Marat
A) There is a copyright notice on the photo itself.
B) It says 2018 DigitalGlobe.
From Wikipedia: "DigitalGlobe is an American commercial vendor of space imagery and geospatial content, and operator of civilian remote sensing spacecraft."
There, mystery solved!
2
"The secret ballistic missile bases were identified in a detailed study published Monday by the Beyond Parallel program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a major think tank in Washington."
1
There are no less than a dozen commercial firms selling satellite images. Want to find out who they are? Look on Google Earth. Google uses most of these data sets.
1
I am not at all convinced that North Korea's nuclear weapons are a good reason not to sign an agreement ending the Korean War. Indeed, it seems more likely that such weapons are a necessary precondition to American willingness to sign such an agreement.
2
Hmmm, They should be kept in our sights at all times. and maybe once in a while we should show them the red dots on their facilities to let them know that one false move will bring down the wrath of God on them.
2
In the first place, we’re not talking a laser scope on a submachine gun. In the second, the “one false move,” you’re talking about would be a launch; if that happens, we’ve already lost.
And in the third: for crying out loud, Somebody loudly told us that this was over and done with. Which it isn’t, and never was.
1
@Garlic Toast
Keep in mind that "the wrath of God" will fall on the US if we attack them with nuclear weapons. Fallout will bring any such war home to the US in hideous and horrible ways for years afterwards. A nuclear attack on anyone always results in an implicit, if unacknowledged attack on ourselves. That is the dirty little secret of the dubious "security" that nuclear weapons provide.
1
@Garlic Toast
Phony fire and fury bluster sure has worked well, so far...eh?
Trump cannot conceive of anyone being able to outwit him, so he is unable to understand the alternative to his cloudcuckooland reality. He met with Kim, Kim told him he would behave, so Kim must be behaving. Trump knows more than the intelligence agencies, and his go-fers won't try to disabuse him of his delusion. The Republican Party has made its Faustian bargain with him in order to retain power. Enough voters, mostly white, are willing to follow him blindly as he steers the ship of state toward the reef.
And this is how you make America great again.
413
@Tom i think "conceive" is too kind. i think the failing is him being able to "admit."
9
@Tom
It’s been quite revealing to see how far his followers are willing to go in the service of this “cult of no personality”.
Essentially they have betrayed America - for the sake of Trumpism.
29
I guess that we need to stop negotiations and go back to what Obama did with great success for 8 years. The Democrat elected President in 2020 should abandon Trump's peace efforts.
5
I’m so glad Donald and Kim “fell in love”! I feel so much safer than ever before as I know that if DT actually fell in love that must be true and living in the target zone here on the west coast is just nothing to worry about. That’s pretty much what I hear from my republican friends as well.
Oh well, time for a second cup of coffee. Does any one know if a nuclear bomb on Seattle will shut down Starbucks? Hope not!
34
Foreign policy by a con man involves self-praise for showing up at a meeting that accomplished nothing, blaming any negative consequences on Obama, Bush or Hillary, acting presidential by holding back on the name calling and insults, declaring inquiring minds ungrateful for the effort he expended keeping us from being blown up during his term and a sweetheart deal post-term for one or two Trump towers and beach/golf resorts in North Korea, with the Kim's getting a cut and a way to launder funds in other global Trump properties. Don Jr. should be all over this one.
35
Well, duh!
Who in their right mind ever thought for one second that Donald Trump and his traveling circus could successfully conduct international diplomacy and arms agreements?
78
OMG, the elections are over, now back to the business of war, eh, corporate-media?
Even the Times admitted that the No Korean nuclear strategy is limited to deterrence:
"Actually striking the United States would be suicide. But the capability could help the North deter an invasion and wield increased global influence."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/22/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-weapons.html
Instead, the US has been doing all it can to subvert North and South Korean diplomacy.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/388709-pence-north-korea-talks-will-end-like-libya-is-kim-jong-un-does-not
With the help of the corporate-media, has been whipping up war fever among the part of the populace of the US that is unable to read between the lines.
So please, neoliberals, we know you love war and the profits that flow from it, but endless war-making, which the US has been involved in since the 80s, is evil.
"On Friday...the S&P Aerospace and Defense Select Industry Index fell roughly 1.3%.
"The U.S.’s five largest defense contractors shed about $10.2 billion in value on Friday alone." (the day of the historic handshake between the Korean leaders)
http://fortune.com/2018/04/27/north-south-korea-nuclear-friendly-handshake-defense-stocks-boeing/
4
@Ed Watters Oh dear.
2
@Ed Watters
Thank you for this reminder of the whole story, i.e., the profit motives always present in every political calculation.
Btw, what do the massively wealth defense industries do to contribute to the well-being of the American people, in gratitude for our gigantic defense budget? Are they supporting job training programs, funding day care centers, endowing hospital wings? I'd like to know the answer.
3
@Ed Watters- Does this mean you are okay with NK lying and deceiving the American government? Just because bombing the US would be a bad idea, doesn't mean it won't occur? Most of WW II was a bad idea but unexpected powers took risks and caused a world war!
1
Why don't we just sell them a bunch of missiles and stuff? DJT has made it clear USA-Mart is open for business. No humanitarian credit? No problem. Political despot? Deals, deals, deals. Currently buying your hardware from China or Russia? USA-Mart will match any quoted prices. There is no low beyond which we will not go.
Dial 1-800-BIG-MOUTH. That's 1-800-BIG-MOUTH. Act now. Don't wait until it's TOO LATE.
32
For those of us who remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, photos like these were enough for our President to take action. Not this one, instead he has a bromance with the dictator.
22
Dennis Rodman is more effective than POTUS.
18
And, unlike Trump, Rodman can go to his left.
His loyal evangelical followers may just yet see the end times. I just wish the rest of us didn’t have to join them.
52
The only ones shocked are Trump and the fools who believe everything he says
22
I have come to enjoy the North Korea media statements. Through translation , they seem to be the equivalent of a mighty mouse roaring. But one hit the nail on the head when the headline accused our own dear leader of being a "dotard".
Bingo! Nothing more needs to be said.
17
Will he pay any political price for being duped by North Korea? For being played for a fool, and compromising American security. For his utter incompetence. I doubt it.
14
@Sparky: For NK to not have a defensive strategy against the US would compromise NK security. You do realise that the US has them completely surrounded and has smashed the country apart once already decades ago?
NK has every right to defend themselves against a dangerous rogue state with a proven track record. They have no intention of starting a fight. To say otherwise is propaganda intended to keep Americans fearful.
North Korea has become a nuclear power with increasingly capable delivery systems that, together, give it the ability to blackmail its way into something resembling solvency. This should concern not only the United States, but China, Japan, and others within its reach.
These facts need to be separated in the minds of readers from hatred of Trump and Republicans. Not all of the comments here do that. They should. Let's not warp what is a very dangerous foreign power military threat and what to do or try to do about it (ourselves and internationally) into babble about domestic politics.
5
@Percy41 A sane post.
2
@boroka: Ya think? Totally uniformed in my humble opinion. Totally Americo-centric and with little basis in reality.
1
The self-anointed real estate GREAT "deal-maker, " as a person, maybe, as its President and Commander-in-Chief, endangering the national security of the USA as a nation, and its diverse populations, of whatever political beliefs. This is beyond his daily lies. His harmful, violating words and done-deeds. His lifestyle of being personally unaccountable for their temporary and more permanent outcomes. If North Korea continues to create the technology to destroy parts of the USA and its peoples, while President Trump states that all is well, WHO is responsible for our adequate safety? Doing WHAT with WHOM? WHEN and WHERE? These are not semantic issues, even as Trump is a daily source of semantic surrealism.Twittering. Voicing. Doing. This is not about civility. Deteriorating mutual trust between so, so many. The disempowering of mutual respect. The lessening of mutual help between family members. Friends. Neighbors. Colleagues at work. People in unsafe houses of prayer and places of leisure. This is about existential threats being mantrafied. Not being challenged. The power to pull one reporter's White House credentials has yet to be transmuted into national existential safety from North Korea's potential/actual nuclear threat. This is not about deal-making. It is about effectively dealing with a dynamic, complex, multidimensional process within ongoing realities of uncertainties. Unpredictabilities. Random events. As well as a lack of total control no matter what we may do.
4
I predict Trump will react with another juvenile screed against the "failing New York Times" and a call to prosecute the "leakers" in the intelligence community who did their duty and warned the American people about this enduring threat and the indifference of the clown in the White House.
17
Most concerning: "A spokesman for the C.I.A. declined to comment."
From someone positioned to know what's real, that might suggest a creepy absence of any credible reassurance.
3
Trump is vain, and then skinned. Kim Jong played him well;Trump is a child.
9
Is there a way for Trump to make money off a war? It starts to seem that he wants one, but I don't see the upside for him. I might just be missing it.
4
Just thinking out loud. He could imagine the distraction might keep him out of jail for some other stuff. Or, he might figure if he's going down, he's gonna take us all with him. Kind of a mutually assured destruction.
1
Mr. Trump in his ignorance and zeal to portray himself as a great deal maker and king of international nuclear disarmament negotiation, has clearly and without doubt, left the United States and its allies in the Pacific at great risk.
Trump's disposition to make himself appear to be successful at all costs is a diplomatic and military security blunder of monstrous proportions. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has been accomplished by Trump in his meetings with Mr. Kim. Worse the security of South Korea, Japan, Australia and homeland America is at greater risk to nuclear blackmail or attack than ever before.
The failure is also attributable to high level members of Congress and high level command officers at the Pentagon and the State Department who have failed to communicate to Mr. Trump the nuclear nightmare that he may have unleashed.
North Korea is not going to disarm, dismantle, halt or delay any of its nuclear weapons and missile systems because of Mr. Trump's love call to Mr. Kim. Frankly what we need is satellite observation of Mr. Trump in the White House to prevent nuclear cataclysm. Trump is relentlessly optimistic at the expense of defending America. His ignorance is the greatest danger we face. His inability to tell the truth and have deep understanding of the real threat of Kim and North Korea may result in nuclear catastrophe.
We face the real threat of a nuclear strike by North Korea. Hundreds of thousands or even millions of Americans may be incinerated.
10
Mr Trump has shown the carrot to Mr Kim. The evidence of expansion and continued "research" into nuclear warheads and ICBM's to carry them is incontrovertible. However, why would any sitting President, after giving the warnings he has, disclose his next steps or intentions? That would be tantamount to giving the opposition your war plans. Unlike his Democratic predecessors, Mr Trump does not telegraph his next punch.
1
@Mike Schwartz no he just gives them a call & tells them our national security secrets & plans. That way they know he means business. He is currently withdrawing from treaties that controlled nuclear armament & proliferation, what makes anyone think he would try to stop North Korea from completely nuclear weapons. You can't let one country have nuclear weapons (Russia & Israel) & deny others (China, Iran, North Korea). Avoiding Nuclear destruction of the world should be a multi-country decision not just up to the US (& a president who doesn't care).
1
Uh....and you’re totally confident there is one. Amazing.
@Mike Schwartz: Haha. You have me rolling on the floor here. Stop it!
One dishonorable, deplorable, despicable world 'leader' lies and dups the other. And the beat goes on....
4
“But American intelligence officials say....” Evidently they are the source for this article and are probably disgruntled Obama appointees harkening back to the golden days of Brennan, and, like him, are more interested in bringing Trump down no matter what. Another problem is their reliance on “commercial images.” Who produced these images? Evidently they, too, wish anonymity and probably because they are government contractors who might lose business if their perfidy were known. Profit and politics first, and patriotism last is apparently their motto. The NYT hates to admit it, but relations with NK are now better than ever under Trump. It’s just his domestic enemies who are the problem. They might try the unheard of thing of rooting for the success of his policies instead of hoping they will fail.
@Ed: "Relations" may be better, but the threat inf NK nuclear weapons is far higher than before Trump's brilliant diplomacy. It is the responsibility of the Free Press to report the news accurately , not be a political mouthpiece for the President or the Government. Only an ignorant fool would have believed that Trump's "deal" quoth NK had any teeth in it.
2
@Ed - This is a perfect example of the true danger of Trump - He has his fans and followers utterly convinced he is what he believes himself to be and all facts and evidence to the contrary is "fake news" . That is the real problem - his base believes him as an article of faith, frequently overlapped with their evangelical faith that Trump is doing God's work. It's a Faustian bargain to criminalize abortion and any form of LGBTQ equality and make America white again. The fact that there is a realistic chance they will succeed is truly terrifying because banning abortion is just the beginning of the "social legislation" the will end in a totalitarian country.
I was raised in the Chriatian faith and it is truly tragic that such draconian social engineering is being being supported in the name of an enlightened prophet who preached and lived a life of tolerance and generosity.
2
I think you’ve got the rooting situation covered. Here’s a question: is there any situation or outcome that would shake your faith in this man? Are you even able to imagine such a thing? Or is he godlike and incapable of doing wrong?
1
Didn’t Trump effectively denunuclerized the Korean Peninsula after his soirée with Kim in Singapore? He told us all to sleep peacefully because he’d solved the problem in one meeting with that little rocket man by looking him dead in the eye. Must be that the NYT has got this wrong - like the size of the president’s inauguration crowd or paying off the women who say he bedded them or not actually paying taxes or that witch hunt in D.C... seriously, this fake news is getting out of hand just as Trump asserts. After all, this man is a pillar of truth and deceny and justice and wisdom. He has told us he’s as great as Lincoln and would ruin the face of anyone insinuating otherwise. Surely, a Nobel prize is coming his way soon.
14
@the doctor
ha ha - good one
4
What a sucker trump is. We all knew it right from the giddyyap. Kim is playing him, Putin is playing him, Duarte is playing him and Xi.
They knew right-off-the-bat. If trump can lose Maloney owning a casino, all bets are on he’ll lose the big international game.
This past weekend was another humiliating example of trump amongst world leaders. The rain...the rain prevented him from attending a memorial ceremony at a hallowed ground cemetery. The low barometer caused his born spurs to act up. Poor baby.
6
So the Kim gang, a deeply Socialist bunch, is lying. Why should we be surprised?
2
Yeah, of course they’re lying - they’re Socialists!! Very astute (sigh....).
Our apprentice president does not understand the art of the deal. Hitler played Stalin by using the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, a decision that Stalin would soon regret. Mr. Kim is playing Mr. Trump by using Trump’s obsession to appear successful and reject anything related to Obama. Round One goes to Mr. Kim because those new satellites are still on the ground. No MAGA there.
4
Thank you, NYT, for printing the truth on this disturbing matter. We certainly can not expect to get any semblance of...truth regarding the North Korean situation- or much anything else- from trump.
7
Bet you didn't know that Kim Jong-un is a paid up member of the NRA. Now it has been confirmed.
6
This acting president of the USA is a lier and we all know we cannot believe a thing that he tells us. We would all be better off if he would just stop talking.
5
Yes, we can all guffaw what a clown Trump is, but this is no laughing matter. A US president has lied to us about the threat from a dangerous enemy. He has also sided with our biggest foe, Vladimir Putin, over U.S. intelligence. No Mueller results are needed to diagnose a dupe__or traitor.
Where is the outrage__and hearings?
www.newyorkgritty.net
5
Remember this:
President Donald Trump on Kim Jong Un: 'We fell in love' over 'beautiful letters'
9
Front Page ... Trump says the moon is made of Green Cheese... NY Times decides after research that it's probably not true.
4
One for little rocket man!
Trump is fake. His money is fake, and his leadership is fake. Just like the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
13
I am afraid our “genus” POTUS has painted himself in a corner but with the American public standing to protect him. He went to Singapore with no preparations except his God given genius to negotiate with cold blooded murderers and came away thinking he’d been to a love feast.
North Korean intelligence, like the KGB, know they are dealing with a severe malignant narcissistic who only responds to compliments and self adoration. So they play him like an old guitar and he laps it up like a starved kitten.
With DJT’s mental illness and the smart intelligence of NK and Russia they spoon pablum to his child like intellect and we are more in danger from them than ever before. His relationships with these dictators are not in America’s best interests and someone needs to step up and 25 th amendment him before he destroys our country. He is NOT capable of being the WH janitor let alone POTUS.
35
@William: Don't think you're in any military danger from either of them. It is well known the US military dwarfs any other, for no good reason actually.
The US is the world's biggest and most vicious rogue state. Why wouldn't any country have a defensive strategy against them? NK made it clear, if you care to look, that their nukes are deterrent against US attack. Nothing more. They have never intended to use them offensively and have clearly stated as much right from the start.
If the US had reduced your entire country to mere rubble and killed thousands of innocents, you wouldn't want some defense against a repeat performance? Do some research on US military actions in the region if you don't know what I'm on about.
1
A missile would be in Seoul before the bay doors opened on our response to Kim lobbing a nuclear warhead just to his south. We used to protect our allies but not so much with this POTUS because he does not get it. He’d rather play love a dictator because he is jealous of their powers while he has to deal with that stupid constitution hindering his dictator authorities.
Actually if you think he is so great I’m sure many Americans would gladly let Australia have him to ruin your country instead of ours!
3
Shhhh... you're ruining Trump's great Trump <3 Kim photo-op.
11
Trump is incompetent buffoon. He's uninterested in the difference between appearance and reality. He's uninterested in the ling term consequences of his ineptitude. The consequences of his recklessness and ignorance will become more and more apparent. We will all--especially those of us who saw through him from the start-- have to clean up his multiple messes. Our best hope os that he's a mistake we learn from, collectively
25
"Sleep well America knowing I solved the DPRK threat going forward ". " We're in love". Trump. ...."Matt Whitticker is a GREAT Guy!" ...
I don't know anything about Matt Whitticker at all! Indecisive/contradicary = weak. It's like Powerball..."Sorry, not a winning ticket"! Only... the Shadow knows.
3
@Karl: Except it turns out the Trump does know Whitaker. Not sure Trump is aware of when he's lying and when he's not anymore. If he ever did.
2
Trump is a dupe. But, hey, he's "in love" with Kim. That makes us all safe.
The sheer stupidity of this situation -- I hesitate to call it "America's stance" -- is plain to see, if you open your eyes.
10
Indeed, the White House occupant's bumbles and atrocities must definitely NOT be called "America's stance"! Maybe "the [un-]Silent M[in]ority's stance", or "'covfefe''s stance", or "a wide stance", but definitely NOT our stance when he's NOT our president.
Love is blind. Even to nuclear weapons, in Donald’s case. No fool like an old fool.
8
Trump should now just shut up about NK--when you're in a hole stop digging. But I do think we should have those smaller less expensive more effective satellites that are being held up, and what's the hold up btw? Oh yeah, Obama's idea.
9
Either trump is gullible and actually believed Kim Jung Un when he said he was dismantling his nuclear missiles, or he’s just plain stupid. Actually, I believe he’s both. He has been believing all the dictators that tell him what he wants to believe. So, at this point, trump has no fear and thinks they’re his BFF’s! Is there not one advisor that he’ll actually listen to?
5
Great deal Bozo worked out with Kim.What a gullible fool our
"president" is.AND we still haven't a clue what he worked out with Kim and Vlad behind closed doors.Ivanka,do something decent for once in your life and get "daddy"to resign.
6
Where were these New York Times' investigations into Iran after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was made?
1
@Xyce
Did anything like this happen in Iran after the deal was made? No? There's your answer.
1
You mean the ones that all said they were honoring their agreement?
1
this is what happens when our president focuses on appearances..and not facts...we are all the worse for it..and in a more dangerous position.
And..you can't really hand it to the Koreans on this... Trump is so stupid..he things Hamas is made with chickpeas..and used as a spread on warm pita bread.
Is it 2020 yet?
6
All Trump cares about is keeping his base (including some of the military) believing until election day 2020 that by force of will alone he is on his way to neutralizing North Korea's nuclear threat. Then he will leave it up to his successor to reach a real deal with Kim. In the meantime, the world will be closer to catastrophe.
Trump and the GOP need to be confronted with these satellite images and the experts' report. Let him and his minions call them fake news. The American people and the world will see the lack of substance to his claims.
163
Kim is too smart to use missiles offensively. Therefore the strategy of trading sanctions relief for peace will not work. We need to put way more military pressure on Kim and make him spend more on defense, just like Reagan did with the USSR.
3
@Mark: Not to mention that NK made it completely clear long ago that they never intended to use nuke missiles offensively. They are a deterrent against the world's most dangerous rogue state, America.
This latest dust up is further evidence that we're living in a world with two realities. One thats's real and one that's occupied by Mr. Trump and his supporters.
30
@TyroneShoelaces: Three. One is occupied by the media and what they decide to peddle that day. To say that there is a NK nuclear threat is nothing short of absurd, but doesn't stop your press repeating it over and over like a mantra.
Not even related to reality.
The nuclear horse has bolted out of the stables and it's not 'if' but 'when' will one of these irresponsible nations aim one at the USA as their leaders and workers aren't exactly mentally stable.
The more nations that have a nuclear bomb, the more chance there is of one being aimed at some nation, somewhere. You can't clean up nuclear waste like you clean up a war zone where guns were used. Also, air currents carry the radiation around the world and there would be a nuclear winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
2
@CK: Why are you talking about the US as if they are some exception to the rule here? Absurd. They are in the bag with all the other countries you talk about. No different.
What, the US is 'the good guys'??? You should really do some research on previous US military shenanigans abroad and the state of the current administration. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to single them out from the pack. None.
North Korea halting their missile tests only occurred after demonstrating that they had the capacity to reach sub-orbital ascent, and the ability to potentially strike the continental United States.
Was that nuclear alarm in Hawaii last year actually an accident, or was it a stress test? Seems to me that it was a stress test even if it was done by accident.
8
who would have guessed?
7
Since Trump doesn't take intelligence briefings, the only way he will know about North Korea's nuclear program is if it gets coverage on Fox News.
11
Let's face it: Trump is in over his head and is putting the USA at risk. Congress?
29
If it fits into his bizarro world, Trump just makes it up!
2
Trump should find this deception very disturbing. Oh right, he doesn't read his intelligence briefings. Ignorance is bliss.
5
Like Neville Chamberlain trump has shown he is a patsy. He even made the same statement that Chamberlin made about the world being able to sleep!
I don't think we can survive too much more of these amateurs in the white house.
I'm tired of all this "winning".
18
Neville Chamberlain didn’t have the British army ready to confront Hitler Germany at the time Hitler showing a build up. Not the case here with 45. Not suggesting that the only solution is a military one, I’m just, based on history, that it is not a correct comparison.
1
What a great deal maker is Trump. This is really “winning”
Republicans continue to lie; what else is new.
5
Is this not great? for our Western "industrialist" robber barons the way war, and the threat of war, historically have always profited the robber barons and their robber baron judges and corporate lawyers? The cult of personality doesn't consume just the boosters but also the critiques. Doesn't everyone sell more and grow their product line in these times?
The cold war sold thousands of plans for DYS bomb shelters during the 1960's, while as children, we learned how to "Duck & Cover" in our classrooms.
We're a long long way from the Chautauqua Movement of our great grand parents' day but a quick search on the internet(s) can still provide an alternative to the inevitable death cycle of the robber baron mentality and it's minions. (Yes Mr Trump, your a minion)
2
The fakest fake news, by an order of magnitude, that America should be worried about is the constant intensifying barrage of fake news that spews forth from the president's mouth. 2020 cannot come fast enough.
5
Wow! Who could have seen that coming. Oh wait, everyone!
4
We are lead by a fool who is doing untold damage to our interests. He is engages in broad pantomime plays with everyone he meets, satisfied with a smile or a vague promise as long as it is accompanied by feigned fear of his mighty puissance. He is perceived by the world as a pathetic buffoon. His enemies are those who can't stand to be around him, and his friends are those Renfields willing to crawl for whatever passes for gold from his hands. He is a catastrophe for all.
10
@Mrs Whit: he is no fool.
he knows fool [typo mine] well what to do
to his and his family's benefit.
... we are fools, unable to convince sufficient
numbers of his disciples to change their minds.
Did anyone who is rational/logical think, that after spending an enormous amount of sweat and tears to get to be a nuclear power, almost at par with, if not ahead of, any of the other nuclear powers, Kim Jong Un would give up all that just because he saw with his own eyes the halo around Trump's head?
Are we Americans pure day-dreamers or do we believe that Kim is insane? I know that we Americans in Trump's world like to believe that we are the only sane/rational people in the world and the rest are just half insane imbeciles, but the reality might be somewhat different.
2
There goes Trump's Nobel Peace Prize. And worse for all of us, peace.
3
The Trump administration has known about these developments for some time now but we have to depend on the NY Times to keep us apprised as to what is really going on. It would appear that fake news, if anything, is coming out of the White House rather than the media.
3
But Trump is getting all those "beautiful" letters from Kim which Obama, much less Hillary, never got.
2
But our Great Leader said we were safe!
Logic and reason don't apply to me as I am a member of the Russiacan Party!
2
All that is labeled in the images are greenhouses and support buildings. Had to read the headline again to check if I was still in the same article. Where's the exciting stuff?
Commander Bone Spurs said he fixed this.
3
This is obviously “fake journalism”.
Our President Bone Spur knows more than the generals, more than the career intelligence officers, and more than everyone in the universe except our Creator.
Besides, it’s a GOP trait to be able to look in a mans eyes and see his soul.
If Bone Spur says it, and dictator Kim say it, surely it must be true.
2
"President Trump says the nuclear threat from North Korea is over."
Is it possible he is a liar?
5
The art of Trump's deal: "Fake nukes!"
4
So, I am indeed a "liberal", living in the N Va bubble. Not sure the issue is Trump. A bunch of presidents have failed to "control" the N. Koreans. It's been difficult, right? The old balance was (a) nullifying the continued regional threat by a gangster regime versus (b) continued hand-wringing because we could not protect Seoul and Tokyo from missile-borne destruction. So, we left the bad guys and their missile program in place. Now, soon, they will become a N. American threat, able to hit Seattle with a nuke. It's no longer "if" they can do it. Just when. From the point of a White House, it continues to be a question of during whose Administration. So, what to do? ... Watch better? I assume this article was assisted, or encouraged, by those in Government who want the better remote sensing of the small satellites that are apparently not in place. Good. But, you know, unless China takes over management of the N. Korean military, this will end very badly. I see us one day flattening most of the peninsula before we lose a portion of our W. Coast. We will kill a lot of innocent North Koreans. In return they will kill a lot of S. Koreans and Japanese civilians. A lot. And China may need to "retaliate". No "good" answers right now. What Trump himself does, short of ok'ing a pre-emptive strike, is irrelevant.
2
Look, we have a domestic terrorist occupying the WH. He has made a deal with the devil, Putin, for whatever reasons. His only concern is himself and has broken the oath he has sworn. He’s committed a number of high crimes which Republicans ignores. America is truely stained by this presidency, and we are closer than ever to WWIII. Gang GOP should rot in hell, unfortunately, there is no such place.
6
The idiot thinks he has the North Koreans contained. All it takes is a pea sized shape of an initiator, wrapped by a grapefruit sized ball of plutonium 239 contained by an implosion device to blow the hell out of a city like Los Angeles. The Koreans have that laying in the tunnels ready to be pointed at us. Our moron president is too stupid to understand the threat.
3
Fool us once Donald, shame on you; fool us twice Donald, shame on some of our stupidity!
1
Which shows how easy it is to fool a fool.
7
Trump appears to have become the opium of the Times kommentariat. Now, does anyone have any thoughts on North Korea?
1
You mean our boy isnt getting his nobel peace prize? Or his bigly military parade?
Dont worry this is all FAKE news, made up by the NY Times and CNN to disparage the Great Leader. ALL FAKE l tell you, as the Scientist in chief is checking his I phone and twitter for the reality. ( Cant be too careful in thes things, have to use quality science here, scientific genes you know.)
Well at least at least if hes wrong our great leader and his”lover boy” can go and play together.
Oh , Kim doesnt play golf? Maybe judge a beauty pageant or two then!!
2
We have more than sufficient evidence that Trump's word is meaningless. His assurances entirely lack credibility. Statements about he knew--no, he did not know--Whitaker, he had nothing at all to do with porn stars, all fake news, well maybe he did know them, but --at first he admits it was his voice on the disgusting video about his sexual proclivities-- then maybe not--he plays with his listeners cannily assessing how much he can get away with. He says what he thinks makes him look good--the truth be damned.
3
The U.S. Congress needs to push past administrative disputes and budget concerns and get the early warning system up and running. Otherwise, the end runs North Korea is currently making around any sanctions will result in big points and the U. S. Wondering , "now how did that happen?"
4
Mr Cha states what most of us have suspected all along: “What everybody is worried about is that Trump is going to accept a bad deal — they give us a single test site and dismantle a few other things, and in return they get a peace agreement.” And Trump won’t appoint anyone competent as ambassador to South Korea, because it might make him look bad. And as for the cessation of ICBM tests, the article points out that while this might reassure the US, North Korea still has shown it is able to rain missiles on its neighbors — another reason why “America First” is so reviled around the globe.
8
The two writers of the article shows statelite picture published in March, that was about 8 months ago. Please pay attention to the bias and deception of the writers. The media keeps regogitating old news to make it seem new.
@Yanko: Both the Times reporters and the authors of the report published today emphasize that the issue is not whether North Korea has or has not made changes to the site in the photo, but rather that satellite images provide evidence of the *existence* of 16 sites that the US has long known about, but North Korea has not acknowledged, even though that was to be one of the premises of any denuclearization program. The date of the photos is thus irrelevant. I suggest that you examine why you feel compelled to carry water for an administration whose efforts and claims have not measured up to scrutiny.
That's not a military base. It's a condo complex, just like our own Dear Leader suggested to Kim in his promotional video shown at their meeting.
There will be fresh organic produce from the greenhouses, and every amenity available in the "support buildings". There will probably be a giant flashing "trump" sign on the hill above the complex when it is finished. So, no--no nuclear weapons research here. Move along--nothing to see. Soon there will be ski lifts and challenging ski runs down the mountain. I bet Monte Carlo and Switzerland are shaking in their boots about the coming competition to their reputations as the best playgrounds for the world's wealthy.
5
Did it ever occur to anyone that why wouldn't the North Koreans do this? It's called leverage folks. Just as we have yet to drop the sanctions. We are in talks. It is totally normal for both sides of an adversarial negotiation to continue building up the military stance in order to extract a more favorable deal. Seriously, I am not even a State Dept. policy wonk and even I know this from following decades of watching talks between adversaries. Do you really not think that the North Koreans know that we can see everything in their country? They know full well we are seeing this because they WANT us to see it.
We need to push the negotiations with the stipulation that there will be a peace treaty between the Koreas and once the nukes are out, so are we.
1
Nuclear weapons in NK are a reality thanks to the bungling of our present and former presidents and Congress. We need to evaluate our current level of sanctions to reduce NK's degree of economic desperation. We also need to assure the world that if a country uses its nuclear weapons against us we will turn that country into a burned out cinder, uninhabitable for the next thousand years.
Please try to solve this issue diplomatically. Do not kindle the fire by making a big public issue of this to provoke Trump's braggadocio and another round of tweet war with Kim that can endanger the country. Everyone knows the Korea "summit" was a show. There are plenty of less volatile issues the media and Democrats can focus on at this point.
3
The biggest worry is that Trump will now retaliate for North Korea's abrogation of an agreement with the USA, the precise contents of which existed in Trump's mind and nowhere else.
4
Trump claims he has solved an intractable problem when commercially available photography demonstrates the opposite.
He talks about fake news so much because he is, by far, the primary source of it.
And it is so easy to disprove him.
Should the Democrats impeach Trump? For the high crime of falsifying the state of national security.
2
Do you reliased that the picture was first published in March and it could have been taken longer than that. The media are deceptive. Think......
Trump's unwillingness to say that he has been conned leaves us less safe than before.
2
I look forward to the Democratic Presidential candidate in 2020 telling us that Trump's agreement with North Korea was,
"The worst deal ever made in American history."
That's his own phrase and by the next election it will apply to NAFTA, Iran, The Paris Peace accords, NATO disengagement and last but not least, his Presidency.
5
We should not have withdrawn from the Iran treaty. That is bad faith. The Trump grants Un a face to face meeting. If we had stuck to the Iran treaty and let negotiations with NK go forward at lower levels, there would have been a better chance. Bottom line, Trump got played.
5
I would be more concerned if Trump truly thought he HAD achieved a breakthrough instead of just staging his "summit" for the base.
Of course, there is the dire probability that, having being savaged in the midterms, Trump is reverting to the age old chestnut of creating a diversionary crisis. This is a risky manoeuvre in front of his cherished base: he’s already claimed a diplomatic coup that had evaded other presidents for decades, showing ‘em how it was done. Now, however, he looks ever more weakened, and even his base must be starting bite their collective lip. We can absolutely lambast Kim for his perfidy, but can he really trust a man who promised “fire and fury” among a nuclear assault of radioactive insults?
Outside of the United States, we watch in horror to what Trump does to the internal fabric of the nation. This is an example of the wider threat that he poses to the rest of the globe and explains why were are so concerned about him: Trump’s reality TV persona is an existential threat to world peace. America’s blight is shared by its friends and allies. It is appalling that the lives of our children might be threatened by this morally bereft incompetent.
The Republican Party has advanced a succession of ever more nefarious presidents, Dubya, to date, still being the most murderous. If Trump seeks that same mantle for political purposes, Democrats must not dither and impeach in order to bleach out the stain before it becomes indelible.
2
Mr. Kim has outfoxed President Trump at every turn with China in the background giving him advice all along the way. Mr. Kim got his big prize, a summit with a US President, along with his elevation and standing on the world stage. This is what happens when a naive fool occupies the Oval Office. I hope our military and intelligence leaders see what the true picture here is and can prevail over President Trump when a truly important decision is required. Living in a dreamland will not cut it with the North Koreans.
4
The lack of public or official outcry in America over this outrageous revelation speaks volumes of the impotence of political opposition towards the Trump regime.
It as if the majority of the American population were under the sway of Stockholm Syndrome, chalking up Trump's self-deception about North Korea's 'sincerity' to be a simple part of his remarkable ignorance in geopolitical matters. Things can only get worse as time goes on.
3
Never forget, Trump's only concerns in life are himself and money.
7
I know that the talk of impeachment is being soft-pedaled these days, but how is something like this not entirely actionable immediately?
The leader of our nation is lying to the world about NUCLEAR WEAPONS! Sorry for the all-caps rant, but doesn't this deserve it? Are we not at a point where the unending lies and prevarication have consequences?
I'm looking at you, GOP.
5
Trump is a known liar and would not hesitate to say and do things that he thinks would boost his political and/or financial interest and some TV footage or propaganda. He is known for not listening his own advisers and cabinet officials. Now Trump might insist that it's a fake news, North Korea is doing great, and he solved another huge global problem
Trump has no intention or ability to solve just any problem, least the more complected issues like North Korea, Israel-Palestine, Islamic extremism, America's internal issues of declining social mobility and rise of tribal mentality and conflict type of serious issues.
I have no clue how his party and Republican leadership like to handle the consequences of Trump presidency after he is gone. Will blaming the Dems would do the job for GOP, in post-Trump era american politics?
3
A complete surprise (not) that the love between our great leader & theirs was a sham, and that our current version of diplomacy is a failure.
So much for that denuclearization plan that was a “sure thing.” Thanks Sec. Pompeo and Pres. T. For all the hard work you never did. You’re beyond inept at your jobs.
4
The cessation of missile testing worth at least more than a throwaway line. What Trump says and what he does are often quite different.
1
...this may also mean, the up-front, do-as-you-say style that trump was trying to initiate and establish as an international order of leadership got a deceitful treat by the old-habits-die-hard style of unethical leadership that refuses to change. this, in effect, will further complicate the international relationship-dynamics and make any solution more time taking and difficult. that's a criminal wastage of time and energy in the new-age world that wants to move faster towards a more meaningful future with speed as its creed. pity, all the protagonists of bad,old tricks, who, at times are pathetically defined as clever while acting as big fools. after all, the micro satellites proved to be more intelligent, anyways.
Trump’s enablers should ask themselves if continuing to support this incompetent president is really in their best interests. Any shortsighted gains, which conservatives always place too much emphasis one, will all be given back if only a single nuclear tipped missile is ever launched by this madman in North Korea.
1
So, no early warning system because Obama started it and Trump will have no part of that happening. Beside that, there are tax cuts to line the pocket and golf to pay for and line the pocket and Mar a Logo to subsidize and line the pocket. "A lot of people will tell you" we can't be wasting money on Obama's projects. Putting all that aside you can't always believe your lying eyes. "A lot of people are saying" Trump looked into Kims eyes and saw LOVE. "A lot of people will tell you" Trump knows better than everyone! So, who are you going to believe, fake news or Trump?
2
The “great deception” is not on the part of North Korea: our Intelligence agencies are aware of the continued nuclear proliferation and have surely briefed the Trump administration about it. The deception is from the fraud Trump, peddling his nonsense to his blind, gullible base and other members of his cult.
5
The difference between previous missile crises and now is that we have a naive, delusional Donald Trump who believes the ego-boosting sweet talk he gets from the likes of Kim and Putin. We have a not very intelligent, thin-skinned narcissist legally in charge of our national defense. This is a dangerous situation. Trump believes that his potential adversaries in international affairs are just like those slavish, ignorant, rally attenders that make up his base of political supporters. But the Kim's and Putin's and Xi's of the real world are much more intelligent and cunning than Trump and his supporters and Americans will feel the effect of having elected this clown for decades to come.
2
Actually, those are Trump hotels and condos disguised as missiles.
3
It appears that Kim may well be a stable genius.
2
I am sure these problems can be solved since they obviously use the same barber for haircuts...they just need to schedule their appointments together.
4
What, despite the enormous cost of the Singapore Summit, did anyone think was going to come out of a meeting of The Liars Club?
Trump was thoroughly played by Kim Jung Un, and returned the favor by playing world media and the security of South Korea.
Now, you can start looking at his plans for NATO, repudiation of the Paris Accord, the Iran Accord, NAFTA and all the rest with a clear eye. They're all fraudulent, made-up positions that read like a drunken frat boy's last minute term paper written by a teenaged John Bolton.
3
President Donald J. Trump lives in his own personal world of grandiose delusions. America is in dangerous hands when someone so out of touch with the real world is the Commander-in-Chief.
2
President Trump is North Korea's stooge, but he will not care as long as his base doesn't care or understand the truth.
2
The very people here criticizing Trump in their comments were the same people who were fully on board when Clinton allowed North Korea to pursue its nuclear ambitions, and actually gave them the materials and technology to do so in the 90's, along with thousands of tons of fuel oil. Hypocrisy? You decide, if you can look at yourselves in the mirror and not laugh at your own duplicity.
@paul
Not only a whataboutism, but a lie as well. You can't argue that Trump was duped so you make up a lie about a Clinton.
10
@paul I don't agree with "hypocrisy" or "duplicity" which are pretty strong damnations of people looking for the best for our country. It was Kim father back then, and the idea, misguided, was to try to buy his cooperation. It backfired, which could have been foreseen by cleverer politicians.
The problem with Trump is that he hasn't taken the trouble to learn from the mistakes of his predecessors and has by ignorance made the situation much more precarious for the US by telling outright lies. N. Korea is as dangerous as ever and to deny that puts the US in more peril than the mistakes of Clinton.
Frustration with Trump's amateurish foreign policy making does not have to be duplicity.
51
@even Steven
“...and has by ignorance made the situation much more precarious for the US...”
If we accept thewisdom contained in the saying that “knowledge is power,” it follows that “ignorance is weakness.”
The depth and breadth of the ignorance President Trump has revealed in the decisions he’s made, the speeches he’s delivered and the positions he’s taken is mind-boggling.
He’s the POTUS.
Unlike any president in the past eighty years, Mr. Trump cannot regularly hold press conferences.
Why?
Because it would reveal his ignorance.
“Mr. President. Specifically, which provisions of the American Affordable Health Care Act do you object to?”
The president can’t face such a question. He’s never read AHC Act. He has no idea what provisions it contains. No idea what the effect repealing it would have. So. No press conferences.
President Trump opposes treaties, trade agreements, environmental accords, etc. because they are “bad”, “a disgrace”, “terrible”, “the worst deal ever.”
He gets no more specific than that, because he can’t.”
If asked for specifics, he cannot provide them. It is painfully obvious that Donald Trump has never read the NAFTA agreement, or the Paris Environmental Accords. He is ignorant as to any specific provisions these documents contain — they are simply “bad, terrible, a disgrace...”
Ignorance is weakness. Our president is profoundly ignorant.
We, as a nation, will be paying for Donald Trump’s ignorance and incompetence for a long, long time.
6
The least odious outcome here is for the Narcissist in Chief to label this report as "fake news". If he feels he has been publicly humiliated, however, which he cannot abide, he may escalate the conflict militarily. Even if such moves are considered minor by our leaders, the chances for miscalculation are increased, and the situation becomes even more unstable.
3
It almost looked like Trump knew what he was doing. He parlayed the "fire and fury" bluster into a made for TV summit meeting. We all hoped the great negotiator would come away with the deal that has eluded previous presidents for decades. The meeting was held, the TV cameras rolled, the American flag stood side by side with the North Korean flag. After the meeting, the two "leaders" came out embraced one another and Trump declared complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula was agreed to. He declared that he and Kim had a great relationship, that they "fell in love" (weird).
We now find out that Trump had no clue what he was doing. He got nothing while North Korea got legitimacy and an easing of sanctions by China and Russia. America has been ripped off yet again by this ego maniac buffoon of a president.
5
With Trump at the helm, the DPRK doesn't really take the US seriously. Their earlier reaction on stepping up nuclear weapons production was all grandstanding. They knew the US would not attack, because of South Korea. Trump naively declares the DPRK nuclear threat gone? Most of us laughed at his ignorant presumption. And now there is undeniable proof.
Cuba is going to be the next problem, because Trump has no diplomatic grace there at all. If anything, he has soured the relationship. So, Cuba will more than likely accept nuclear assistance from the DPRK. JFK would be turning in his grave. When will this Trump farce of a presidency face justice?
2
C'mon, how is that possible? I mean, the president assured us we were safer!
2
Is anyone surprised? Kim played Trump like a violin.
In addition, Moon South Korea is living in a dream world trying to reach peace with the North.
Hmmm, didn't Trump say he looked into this Chairman Kim's soul ("fell in love")when they met, and how they can work together? Wow, Trump displays such a judge of true character and sincerity, it just boggles the mind. NOT!
2
What a broken world we live in! And it’s not just “them,” it’s us too. A game in which the ante goes dangerously up every day, forsaking basic humanity without even a glance. As evident in this disturbing article, look at all the resources, human and otherwise, that go into this utter madness of waste. We speak about free choice, yet don’t have it. We’ve become our own prisoners. And then there’s the hapless president whom we actually elected, a cipher when it comes to the truth about anything ... except his own personal appetites that can never be satisfied. America does have enemies for sure. And we have to know who they are and what they’re up to. The victory sane people hope for, however, cannot be an empty con. The arrogance of American exceptionalism surely has something to do with all of this. Until we find a way to share reasonably our wealth ... which will demand a creative leader of goodwill ... matters can only get worse. And that won’t be before all of humanity is truly cared for.
3
Trump, and everyone who thinks N. Korea will get rid of nuclear weapons, are on a fool's errand. They will not do it, ever. Why would they when having nuclear capability guarantees the continuation of the Kim regime? When we recognize that fact, we can begin to have some rational conversation about what to do about it. And it really is not that big of a deal anyway. Having the weapons guarantees their survival. Using them guarantees their destruction. Which course do you think the Kims will take?
2
Gee, it's almost as though they used flattery to take advantage of an inexperienced, know-nothing narcissist in order to extract concessions at no cost to their nuclear program.
4
Another victory for the Master Negotiator and Master of the Universe - D. J. Trump!
2
What one has to understand is that Kim Jung Un is really only interested in staying in power and that the lesson of Glasnost has not escaped him. Trump was a useful tool for him in that he provided Kim with all of the legitimacy in the world and a message that only amplified his 'greatness'. The photo-op over, the world starts again on the basis of where it was as opposed to embarking on a new path.
88
@Alex C
Trump fails to realize that he is simply a "useful tool" for Kim Jung Un, for Putin and most dictators as well as for the GOP who use him to get what they want. And he has the uncanny ability to delude himself that he is "winning" respect. I'd say "winning respect for the US" but in reality, Trump only cares about himself, so he probably prefers to think that he is winning respect for himself. Trump is a total complete ignorant fraud and he is calling the shots.
6
Trump's spin on reality may still be the wisest way to handle the situation. The horse is out of the barn, North Korea is a nuclear power, there is no way to force Kim to disarm. That is the reality.
So we might as well accept it and try to integrate North Korea well enough into the global system that it remains stable and has no need for brinkmanship. Kim seems to have proven that he is a rational if ruthless leader and intends to live out his life in comfort, not be incinerated in an American nuclear counter-strike.
34
I think that's what Neville Chamberlin said when he returned to Britain after talks with Hitler.
9
@GSTumps response? Fake news!
4
@GS
There is a lot of truth in what you say GS.
.
Trump is certainly making things much worse, but a lot of the fault with N. Korea falls with Presidents B. Clinton, G.W. Bush, and B. Obama. They were all too accommodating to N. Korea. I'm not minimizing the likely casualties we we would have suffered, but the correct approach was to have confronted N. Korea in the late 90's and 2000s.
.
As GS says, it is likely too late now.
I have lived all these years with "hidden" missile bases in NK , Iran and the rest of the world. I am not worried about them. But I am worried about the war-mongering USA all the time.
66
@Har: you're not alone!
[small comfort, i know, but still.]
2
The hatred on the far left for America and what it stands for never ceases to amaze. Here's a suggestion for Har and the 9 who have recommended his/her comment: move to Iran or North Korea and see how your right to criticize their government will get you.
@paul The point is that those bases are not new and there's no evidence they are actively testing missiles. The "new" info is intended to prevent peace between N and S Korea.
According to press reports, the Cubans are currently strengthening their ties with North Korea. We have to remember that the island have a very close relationship with Venezuela's Maduro, where support for the government is below 5% of the population, thanks to the incredibly high inflation rate, high poverty level, and lack of medicines, among many other negative situations.
It does not look good for Colombia and the United States. Three brutal dictatorships are joining forces. Another Cuban missile crisis is looming in the horizon.
9
@M Martínez Would Trump be able to handle a "Cuban missile crisis" as well as John Kennedy did?
1
@M Martínez: frankly, i'm more worried
about brazil these days than about cuba.
[more worried abt. bolsonaro than abt. díaz-canel.]
as to the continuous "mess" in a number
of latin american lands ... fight corruption,
and drug addiction - especially in the US,
and you won't need missiles on either side.
1
Trump gets involved and things go from bad to worse? Impossible.
28
Everything Donald Trump touches is destined to fail. His business history shows that, as does his personal history.
The difference, and what makes his failings as President so consequential, is that there is nothing analagous to bankruptcy or divorce at this level.
This man is used to the ability to walk away from his failings, leaving others to bear the liabilities.
At some point when it hits them in their pocketbooks, those diehard supporters will see the truth about this flim-flam man.
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@LaGruel All true, and now he has set the US on a course of epic failure the scale of which is going to threaten everything on Earth.
5
@LaGruel
Thanks for this very helpful advice regarding North Korea's nuclear program.
2
@LaGruel
very well said!!
2
Never forget: Trump has the full support of the Republican leadership.
67
Our military owes a great debt of gratitude for pointing this out to the Generals!
Without the NYTimes, and their spy satellites, the military would never have this information...of course perhaps they wish it were not publicized at all.
9
@edge What secrets have been reveled? NK knows it; US military knows it; did Trump know it? He does now.
1
The military might want talk to the folks at Digital Globe.
1
@Roger That was Sarcasm!
Everyone already knew this, as did the President.
This is because Kim Jong Un is smart. Trump is not. He makes the easiest of marks. Simply appeal to his oversized (and wholly unwarranted) ego and voila! manipulation complete.
60
@IZA
' Simply appeal to his oversized (and wholly unwarranted) ego ... '
Or any other part.
2
@IZA
IZA, this is helpful, of course, but we were looking for something a bit more immediately connected with this nuclear business in Korea. We know that Indiana is a wellspring of genius. Perhaps you could offer your...um...thoughts?
1
Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could all create our own world? Paid for by pawns?
The United States is not a movie, but Donald Trump treats it like that. And the Republicans have allowed it.
Kool aid never tasted so good for so many thirsty for something in their life that Trump is sly enough to tap into. Even North Korea and ramification thereof.
22
Get over it. Trump has surrendered. The threat is over. Next.
5
The real deception is not that of Kim Jong-Un. One would be a fool to have believed he was serious about disarming. The deception is that of POTUS suggesting we should believe he had/has accomplished something. Truth is dead. The Republican Party is all smoke and mirrors.
59
Why am I not surprised? No really, why?
9
Well, luckily the man in the Oval doesn't read.
The bizarre press conference the day after Republicans lost the House and his behavior in Paris, proves that he is acting like a wounded animal pressed into a corner with no escape route.
I fear that sooner rather than later he will distract the country from crimes he and his mob-like family have committed. And nothing unites his blood-thirsty base and gets other people on-board then a little war.
May all the gods on Mount Olympus protect us.
39
With Trump's ignorance of the current situation in North Korea is hilarious and traitorous all at once. Decades of keeping the North Korea in place with sanctions is pretty much gone.
10
@kunio
Sanctions stunted DPRK's nuclear program how? The last speaker I heard on the subject asserted that the sanctions are pretty porous. I think you need to start thinking. About Phase 2, I mean.
1
Mr. Art of the Deal, snookered again by a despot who knew that personal flattery would blind him to any policy indiscretion.
40
Could our president be any more incompetent?
57
@Adam, Yes. Every day he shows us that.
5
@Adam
Dont ask that question! I’m afraid of the answer.
4
@Adam
Could he be more incompetent? Yes. Just wait for the first missiles to fly from North Korea and then see how Trump behaves because he's "smarter than the generals". Remember he told the American people how smart he is and only he fix the problems. We'll soon see. When San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Hawaii, Chicago, Seattle and all American forces in the Pacific have been turned to ashes then you can revel in how smart Mr. Trump truly is.
5
So a seventy-something who is the leader of the free world, with all the resources of the CIA, DIA, the US armed forces, State Dept with decades of experience, is getting punked by a thirty-something communist running a country with a GDP a third the value of Salesforce inc...
So. Much. Winning.
35
he was right. I am sick of winning
3
I hope Trump was lying when he said North Korea is neutralized when it comes to being a Nuclear threat. It would scare me to think he really believes what he's saying.I had hoped that you can't lie to a Liar.
7
But Hilary was going to take our guns away from us, so sayeth the adoring supporters. I almost want Iran to detonate an underground nuke, almost. Putin and Xi supply the north with everything they need, I wish they could elect a slightly less pathetic POTUS.
9
Shared this with conservative colleagues who are now very upset... that the NYTimes would go to this length to defame Great Leader.
11
L’il Kim Jun must be smiling and rubbing his hands together: “all is going according to plan, that fool in the White House was so easy to dupe.”
13
@Electroman72: kim jong un didn't have to do anything.
dee jay tee's wishful thinking did everything for him ...
It appears our simpleton president is easily hoodwinked, but at least he is keeping safe from the "caravan."
29
What caravan? It seems to have disappeared
Though I feel contempt and physical disgust for Trump, I wasnt rooting against him on the issue of North Korean de-nuclearisation.
I dont take pleasure or satisfaction in Trump's failure here, I feel a sense of second hand embarrassment.
5
And Putin gave Trump a "thumbs-up" in Paris. Going as planned.
16
This is what happens when you have a spoiled corrupt rich ignorant talk show host who enjoys demeaning bullying contestants become the President of the United States. What a resumé. Whose delusions of grandeur despite multiple bankruptcies declares only HE alone can fix America’s problems. What did you expect America. Well one thing we didn’t expect was the traitorous support of the republicans and senate for this despot. Their only priorities are greed and power at the cost of our country. The Koch brothers, the Mercer’s, the Adelsons supply the money to tear down the country that enabled their grotesque wealth. You can fool the ignorant some of the time but you can’t fool the rest. The resistance will grow to rid our country of this pestilence.
21
People, we are being governed by fools.
27
@Qev: those who govern aren't fools.
they know full well how to make fools
of [too] many of their voters.
[sssadly outrageous as it is.]
The NYT and its reporters, David E. Sanger and William J. Broad, deserve praise for illuminating the terrible danger of government using nuclear weapons. The threat and use of nuclear weapons against innocent people, including children, illuminates the evilism of government. Its evilism, contrary to the fantasy view of government taught in grade school, high school and college, helps us understand the illegitimacy of government.
http://time.com/after-the-bomb/
2
Donald Trump says a lot of things that are blatant lies. The New York Times is allergic to the word when it comes to the President, using softer terms like “misleading” and “falsehoods”. But I’m not afraid to say it. Donald Trump is a lying liar. See how easy that was?
27
The Clown will be no more successful with North Korea than any of his predecessors. The difference between them and him is that he'll sell his snake oil to his base, who will believe anything and everything he tells them. And the Clown is too stupid to know what he doesn't know.
The danger, of course, is that his failure to know and his base's insistence that he knows everything, will cause him to act inappropriately to the threat. His base's willful ignorance will cause them to support and vote for him in 2020.
We're being led by an ignorant, dangerous, liar who will make us less safe, not more. And he's being supported by an ignorant, dangerous electorate that couldn't care less about the truth.
159
Well said. Thank God the other 60% is intelligent enough to have driven the Republican sycophants out of the House.
4
@Citizen That's as concise and accurate a summary of Trump's foreign policy acumen as anyone could write. It is heartbreaking.
7
@Citizen
Actually, most of Trump's base lives outside areas likely to be targeted by Kim's nukes. Major US cities are Democratic strongholds, while rural America only has to worry about fallout or an errant strike. I'm afraid in today's toxic political climate, some Trump supporters would be glad to see New York or DC values wiped off the map.
3
Trump: "an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Tragically, if you talk to Trump supporters they will say they like "what he has accomplished." He actually has accomplished little if anything, North Korea being a case in point. He breaks things and pronounces victory, all to our detriment and peril.
111
Republicans still talk of the launching issues with Obamacare, but two years into trump/Putin administration, the government has not been able to complete a way smaller project initiated by Obama. Go figure.
24
I'm shocked, shocked to find that Trump's "peace in our time" moment was a case of gross appeasement!
26
Had enough yet? Does everybody finally get what's really going on? Trump's endless self aggrandizing and self serving lies are cutting away US national security. Trump dispatches troops to the Mexican border to face down impoverished migrants walking across Mexico. Meanwhile North Korea goes on building nukes and missiles and mobile launch systems to deploy Russian designed and Russian smuggled nuclear weapon systems aimed at America. Putin sure is getting his ruble's worth enabling and supporting our liar in chief. Meanwhile we get scammed, distracted, misled and rendered more and more vulnerable to nuclear blackmail and nuclear attack by the liar in chief.
162
How can anybody in this country feel safe with a President who blithely lies even in the face of incontrovertible evidence from his own national security team?? What sort of person puts 350 million people at risk just to buff up his silly, but dangerous, ego?
68
@Kathy he's a sociopath.
9
I don't trust Trump as he has a propensity to put his own ego ahead of the interests of the USA. Expect Trump to ignore warning signs when it makes him look bad.
I also don't trust Trump to make reasoned choices. When faced with a decision to dismantle North Korea's nuclear capability vs. disrupting an Obama program, e.g. the early warning satellite system, expect Trump to choose the latter.
20
“What everybody is worried about is that Trump is going to accept a bad deal — they give us a single test site and dismantle a few other things, and in return they get a peace agreement [that formally ends the Korean War]."
I think I could do Victor Cha's job. This is what everyone has been saying from the very beginning. Trump is going to diplomatically normalize North Korea in return for petty political gain while North Korea remains fully nuclear. That's the deal. There was never hope for anything better. Trump is a terrible negotiator. He persistently fails to see anything outside the context of his own immediate self-satisfaction. This is a terrible way to conduct diplomatic negotiations.
The only positive thing we can say is Trump hasn't started a war yet. However, he may very well have sowed the seeds for one at some point in the future.
19
@Andy: don't they say that trade wars
often precede "hot wars"?
djt has definitely split the US ...
to a point where some people say
they are reminded of the Civil War.
Trump uses international relations as a stage for his feckless self-promoting reality show.
He gutted the State Department and diplomatic core, and has right-wing ideologues and hopeless amateurs on his international team.
He staged the North Korea summit as a public relations stunt, and was made a fool.
He is also a tool of Putin, which was clearly shown at the Trump-Putin summit.
Trump is impeachable and indictable right now, and should be removed from office before he does more harm.
45
Anyone heard the good news from Pompeo? Bet not.
3
I've long resisted labeling Trump guilty of any traitorous acts, but to mislead the general public about NK, while in possession of information of this kind is now eroding what little faith I had remaining in his military acumen.
13
Sounds like you might have among his reluctabt enablers from your reasoning and now we all are paying the price.
2
This sooooo completely unimportant.
What matters is that we got bigly tax cuts for billionaires. And our dear, dear friend in the North has miles of unspoiled beach real estate to develop, that we can strike great deals with.
What else is there in life?
14