China, if you’re listening, please interfere with the US 2020 elections
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It’s funny, we were all so sure that if a madman like Trump got elected POTUS that for sure he’d push the red button on the nuclear launch footfall the minute he got into office but he’d didn’t. But then leave it to a madwoman with a teacup Yorkie named Adam in her purse to impeach him that ends up being the cause for that red button to finally get pushed.
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@John Doe
What does Nancy Pelosi, House Leader, have to do with international diplomacy?
Nothing, that's what. It's nothing do with her, or her job as House Leader.
Look to Trump and Mike Pompeo. They are the ones who should be shouldering this responsibility.
And you should know that, as an American citizen. Shame on you for not knowing it.
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He didn't start a nuclear war with a thunderstorm yet! What a great president. And if he does, it's someone else's fault. What vision, What greatness!
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Asking Kim Jong Un to give up his nukes is like asking Trump to give up his hotels. Hmmmm . . . . Maybe that’s the deal!
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Would it be possible to write a more unilaterally speculative piece? I don't think so. If there was a category for the above, the author should win the Pulitzer.
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Shouldn’t the headline refer to US diplomacy efforts?
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Wait, what about the Nobel Prize winning peace strategy?
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Maybe Trump can obliterate the ICBM when it is in flight — by tweeting it!
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What Allies? We no longer have any under the Trump regime!!!!
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Democrats may be better at removing the threat posed by Kim Jong-un -- they might impeach him.
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It will all be fixed when those pesky South Koreans agree to move Seoul. It took the massive brain of our own "Dear Leader" to come up with that one.
Trump has shown he is at heart a coward, bullying his way around laws and the constitution. Unfortunately for all of us, his willful ignorance is icing on the cake, lapped up greedily by his GOP sycophants.
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I guess that Nobel peace prize is going to have to wait.
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Glaring setback from what?
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"I think part of this may be bluff on their part,” John R. Bolton
Bolton is famous for being wrong 100% of the time
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The headline's use of the word "Braces" is misleading. A better word might be "Sighs" or simply "Awaits."
But they love each other and Kim Jong-um writes nice letters to Trump. So, take that into account!! Trump is the most loved president in U.S. history by Kim Jong-um. So, take that into account!! Certainly more loved by dictators than President Obama was. So, take that into account!!
If we make Trump king and appoint Donald Jr. as Prince, next in succession to the King, we'll have peace.with North Korea, Russia, the Philippines, and maybe Iran (next big story on Fox News,) we'll have peace. America First!
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No way!! I thought KJU was Trumps BFF!!!
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Trump is like a petulant child that just tired of his new toy. He had fun wining and dining Kim Jong Un and getting love letters from him but Trump thought that was all he had to do and he’d get a Nobel Peace prize. He didn’t anticipate actually having to achieve the denuclearization of North Korea or something hard like that. Who knew that would be so hard just like healthcare?
Trump finally did succeed in achieving something that Obama did not. Trump got impeached! Now, Trump, pack up your marbles and go home!
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No surprise - Trump and Pompeo were played like the fools they are. Two hot air balloons!
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What? no way! I cant believe that Trumps #2 BFF lied to him. So much winning....I cant stand it. But one person who is enjoying his winning; Putin. And also Erdogan. And MBS. Duarte too...kind of a thing...
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Kim ate Trump's lunch. Took his lunch money too.
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No surprise in this headline.
I hope they hit the west coast. America would be better off without it.
We’re all thinking an unbalanced dictator is more sane than Trump. Kim Jong-un will push Trump at all turns. Trump opened himself, and us, for this type of treatment. Now he will bluster, declare love (he knows a lot about that) and give in. Just like he has on Ukraine and Syria. It’s too bad Trump can’t think past his overly-foundationed nose. Outcome? As in Syria and Ukraine, Putin, with China, will step in and resolve this in a manner that most embarrasses the United States. I would add Trump, but he is neither intelligent nor morally sophisticated enough to be shamed or embarrassed. NK is a Chinese puppet-state. Without China, it doesn’t exist. China is allowing NK to do what it can’t. Our inability to work strategically with countries, as China, that we refuse to try to understand, has led to this type of situation time and again. Sanctions don’t work any more than war does. Neither ever solves anything. Trump, please let the big people in the room handle this problem, don’t make it any more difficult for them by trying to think - not your strong point.
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This is a very dangerous time to have an insecure, delusional, untethered, impeached president who is prone to lashing out in charge of relations with an insecure, delusional, untethered dictator.
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Who knows what two irrational, impulsive men (Kim and Trump) might do. Hot heads usually stay hot even when cooler heads are needed.
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As always the only question is whether Trump's stupidity was accidental or purposeful. None dare call it treason.
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I am really sick and tired of "winning".
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I'm sorry but this is what you get when you elect a conceited ignorant unthinking person who cares little for others as a leader.
Honestly people, you should have known this about him That you didn't care to see it, allowed him to use all of those personal qualities to get elected in the first place. And it has been downhill from there.
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"as Trump’s Diplomacy Fizzles"
Why does the NY Times write editorials in the form of judgmental headlines? I would think standards of journalistic impartiality would be higher.
Everything around Trump is tinsel and illusion. He surrounds himself with third-rate advisors whose primary attributes are fawning and bowing. Why is this happening? Trump is a fraud. We're told that his supporters are angered when they are called deplorables, but they haven't shown they don't deserve that name.
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So we can add lies about how he made peace with North Korea when no one else could to the long string of lies about his supposed accomplishments that no one else could do. We can do that, but half the country won't notice and will continue to believe that this ... person has accomplished "amazing" things for the country, no doubt out of the goodness of his heart. Fools.
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Elect an evil clown get an evil package under the Xmas tree. Trump has managed to dismantle what little international cooperation there was on nuclear arms control, attacked our allies, strengthened our adversaries and denigrated efforts to build a sane future for coming generations. He is the worst leader on the planet not because of the many inhumane endeavors he has initiated here at home but because he has given a green light to all the beasts slouching toward Armageddon to be born.
Threatening a missile test????
Let's launch our SAT's and tuition bills at them.
Is the Nobel prize off the table? I was already planning my trip to Stockholm next year..
I’m donating all my red neckties to charity.
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Trump got punkd. By the country that has been working us for some time now. Trumps vanity and low emotional IQ is another reason why trump may be the worst president of all time. Mr Kim had everything to gain by dealing with trumps vanity project. Sanctions by the Chinese got lifted which by the way were the only ones that mattered and the North Koreans advanced their goal of multiple missile warheads capable of reaching the U.S.A. If your Kim Jung un, what’s not to like. I’d say Kim had a very good year and will soon celebrate with his own Christmas present to himself.
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A dangerously unstable little dictator, living in a fantasy world, surrounded by sycophants who worship him as a god, has gotten control of a nuclear arsenal.
And then there's also Mr. Kim.....
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Trump got played by yet another dictator.
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Is it just me or does President Trump look like a chump?
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Whenever the Times decides North Korea policy is a front-page topic, they call in David Sanger to replace day-to-day reporting on Korea by Choe Sang-Hun. And then Mr. Sanger feeds the popular narrative that nothing short of muscular policy of one sort or another will bring North Korea to its knees. Never once has Mr. Sanger - or any other corporate media reporter - even hinted that North Korea, with or without ICBM capability, would no longer be the perceived threat everyone takes for granted, if the US partnered with Kim Jong UN in a peace agreement. There already is precedent for this solution - Israel, Pakistan, the UK, for example, are nuclear holding states and no one, including Mr. Sanger, rails about them. The 'peace' alternative is never entertained with North Korea, however, which raises a point that would never occur to Mr. Sanger to say out loud - the US cannot afford peace with North Korea, a lynch pin in the post WWII global strategy for justifying US military and economic dominance in Northeast Asia. No enemy on the Korean peninsula, no rationale for 70 years of US military occupation in South Korea.
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I'm tired of winning. Kim is threatening America? You have to hand it to Trump, he can always make it worse then you could imagine. Admit Republicans, he's a little incompetent, and a lot criminal.
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Trump said “we fell in love” as Kim played him like a fiddle. Kim got what he wanted, recognition on the world stage, while making Trump look like the incompetent fool he is.
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2 things to despair over this holiday season: Trump's amazing inability to run a country and the GOPs support of this incompetence.
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What...diplomacy failed between two narcissistic leaders? Who could have seen that coming??!!
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Meh. He’ll just blame it on the Democrats.
You want to stop the North Korea and their nuclear program? Just tell South Korea to develop an ICBM and nuclear program to protect themselves from the Chinese and that should do it.
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But, they fell in love!
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“Instead, officials say, if the North resumes its missile tests, the Trump administration will turn to allies and again lobby the United Nations Security Council for tightened sanctions — a strategy that has been tried for two decades.”
Allies? What allies? The missiles are aimed at you, not us, you know, the strategic steel threat Canada.
Hope you like your Christmas present; your president had it custom made for you. I won’t tell you what it is, but here’s a hint... Trump is known as Mr Fire and Fury.
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People need to relax. North Korea has never attacked us and never will, This is a domestic dispute between the North and the South who are technically still at war. We have a huge military base in the South, conduct massive war games with nuclear armed weapons miles from the North and have imposed crushing economic sanctions. Kim would be suicidal to unilaterally and preemptively give up his nuclear program, as we have unreasonably demanded, before getting any concessions on the sanctions. This needs to be settled diplomatically and it will be. So everyone, stop hyperventilating and put things in perspective. It would also help if the war mongering intelligence community and military, along with their corporate media cronies at Fox and MSNBC and CNN would butt out and let the diplomats do their work. Enjoy the holidays.
But I thought Trump was the despot whisperer. What’s going on? Maybe he can sit down to the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake with President Xi to help get something sorted out with N Korea.
I trust Donald Trump’s judgement without reservations.
Just kidding.
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Too bad we don't have a functioning State Department...
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Trump has a curious penchant for murderous dictators, perhaps spiced with a twinge of envy. Those guys (they all are men) play him like a fiddle. It would be amusing to watch if the consequences weren’t so grave.
$100 says they copy and paste that letter they sent to Erdogan and forget to swap out half the names.
Geez...who would have thought: North Korea has become far more emboldened and dangerous under Trump than any previous administration. But it's all ok because Trump got his love letters.
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Trump: “Love means never having to say I’m sorry.”
Oh wait, that was from a cheesy 1970s movie.
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Imagine no sanctions on N.Korea. Where are the game theory outcomes of such an event?
Perhaps a stable economy that does not need the use of such weapons.
There would be zero chance any attack on the south given the north’s prosperity.
So what is it all about at this stage, egos, keeping an enemy in the north, what?
I’ve never heard anyone put forward theories on lifting sanctions and what they mean.
Please do not address human rights given the acceptance of not total support of other nations with atrocious human rights records that we accept.
Horrors! Has this international love affair ended? Where is Dr. Phil when we need him?
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From the article, “I think he will do these things,’’ Mr. Trump said. “I may be wrong. I may stand before you in six months and say, hey, I was wrong.”
The Liar-in-Chief apologize? Never.
Trump will blame everyone but himself for his failures.
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Trump hates and disparages our allies but now wants their support. Worst President in history. Trump has proven himself a complete failure on foreign policy. From the Ukraine to North Korea to Russia to Syria to China his policies have made the world a more dangerous place.
When two wacko leaders face each other, it’s not a good ending for any of us. We’ve never before needed wise, calm leadership to navigate these turbulent waters. Instead, we allow this crazy man to have his finger on the “Bigger Red Button”.
We have only ourselves to blame.
I know this is probably a stupid question, but where does the money come from in North Korea to fund all this defense production. Just what does North Korea produce that gives this dictatorship so much money. What is their commodity? Can we start the diplomacy by cutting off this guys money? Or are we part of it in some way-and really cannot rock the boat?
trump was warned by people far wiser than he that Kim Jong Un was not to be trusted. Nevertheless, the corollary to “you can’t deceive an honest man” is that it’s easy to deceive a dishonest one. Kim Jong Un faked out our conman-in-chief with a photo op and a “lover letter, “ thus proving to other tyrants that trump is a ready mark. They have been using this information to their advantage and our detriment ever since.
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Why would Kim give up his weapons when there is no reason for him to trust Trump and US will not topple his regime.
Kim and the whole world have seen time and again US shows no respect for adversaries without deterrents. Everyone understands this unless one is really dumb or pretends to be.
When the U.S. has to embrace the actions of North Korea, this tells me either it is 1- media hype to sell more copy, or 2- our country is working in overtime to inform the world it is still a powerful nation that militarily can dictate what nations can do. Pitiful. One has to compliment Kim...he is still there, playing the game. It is sad, the sacrifices of human lives that are made to play these stupid political games.
This is what happens when the highly successful actions of the Obama Administration to compel North Korea to give up nuclear weapons and mussels fails. Obama did little or nothing to end or provoke North Korea’s rise to a nuclear power and it was idiocy for Trump to try to accomplish a peace breakthrough.
Don't be so negative! Trump had a "HUGE" win in North Korea.
He became best friend with anouther totalitarian dictator. A nuclear bomb test by North Korea is peanuts compared to Kim Jong-un being Trump's Best Boy Friend.
Once again, the world sees that whatever the Trumpeter puts out with bombast and photo-op, just believe the opposite and you will be right much more often than wrong. His bluster is strictly for "base" consumption and he knows that their attention span is as at least as short as his, so he can later do a 180° turn and sell it back to them as progress.
The real intentions of the North Korean regime is to preserve itself. It wants to be protected from regime change and war carried out foremost from the USA. America is a constant threat to the regime and it leaves it little option. North Korea must have a deterrent against USA and they have found that now.
The American approach to the regime is to totally give up its deterrent and change the regime into something that suits Washington, but that won’t happen. The Kim family and its cronies have no desire to destroy themselves.
It’s a terrible regime and it’s very difficult to change. Trump was of course naive to think he could push Kim to give up his protection, however the other presidents have also failed.
There is a need for a new diplomatic approach to NK
Can we use some taxpayer money to send Trump over to share the holidays with Kim and see how successful his friend is? Perhaps for the next 11 months?
I hope that those who heralded Trump as the great peacemaker are finally able to understand that he got played, and we are in a worse position in the far east than we were before he was in the picture.
There's a lot of commentators echoing the headline about Trump's failed diplomacy with North Korea, but not one word about any former presidents who never even tried. That is a much different and larger kind of failure. And more worthy of scorn.
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President Trump believes he can stroke Kim's ego to give up nuclear weapons. Kim is too smart for that. Kim wants the sanctions to be at the least eased if not lifted. His country is reeling from the US imposed sanctions and he holds Trump as responsible for this.
After what happened to Gadafy Kim is never going to let go of nuclear weapons and he will always keep provoking the US with more and more advanced tests to draw attention to North Korean demands and needs.
Kim will take extreme measures if he does not get his way soon. He will not dare to attack the US but he will launch a missile in the direction of the US.
We are hurting them in real terms and he will demonstrate that he is well equipped to hurt us too.
Trying to appease Kim's ego has not worked and it will not work. The better way will be to lift some sanctions and even provide food and fuel aid.
President Moon of South Korea opened the door to negotiations between Trump and Kim seeing a genuine opportunity to advance reunion of the two Koreas. A reunified Korea friendly to both the U.S. and to China would be the best outcome for the people of Korea, its neighbors and the U.S. Such a Korea would have no need of nuclear weapons. It would be a powerful economy whose security would be assured thru good relations with the U.S. and its allies as well as with China and Russia.
Kim urged concurrent negotiations involving both Koreas with the U.S. The Singapore Summit, which excluded Moon's participation was followed by multiple measures towards reunion including reduction of the military readiness along the DMZ, restoration of rail traffic between the Koreas, an active reunification council and other measures. At the time I felt I trusted Trump's gut more than Bolton's brain. Bolton was stuck in old patterns. Trump seemed to offer a path to resolution.
Key to moving forward was the signing of the agreement to end hostilities between the U.S. / UN Command with South Korea and the DPRK. The U.S. declined to signed. At the Hanoi Summit the U.S. resumed Bolton's approach, which is doomed to fail.
Without reunification the DPRK faces an existential threat at the DMZ supported by the might of the U.S. Trump has declared willingness to destroy Korea to win. The only deterrence would be intercontinental missiles that could hit the U.S.
It is time to ask Moon for advice.
I don’t fault Trump’s attempt to break through by using a different approach with North Korea — every other diplomatic effort for decades has failed. But now, it seems the only thing that can stop this rogue regime is economic isolation. US-China trade should be tied to China’s reining in N. Korea. China remains NK’s lifeline and getting their cooperation by offering trade concessions would be a win-win.
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My opinion is that KJU will increase his bluster in an election year to leverage a better deal because of election year scare value. Expect more missile tests and the very unhelpful media to fear monger endlessly to push down voter sentiment. Thereby advancing KJU ‘s strategy. After the election KJU will be ready for a deal with President Trump.
North Korea has nuclear weapons, and will never give them up. They will develop a missile capable of reaching the US mainland.
Mutual destruction is what has kept us out of a nuclear war with Russia, and any other nation since WWII. It is the only realistic strategy available to us. Sanctions haven't worked. It's insanity to keep trying to make them work.
Kim will do as he pleases. Neither the “bromance” touted by Trump nor the sanctions that starve his people have deterred him from building s nuclear arsenal. And now, with the disturbing images of him riding a white horse in the snow that seem to presage his “Christmas Surprise,” it seems he’s summoning the apocalyptic picture of the pale horse, pale rider.
What is even more disturbing is that our diplomatic and intelligence communities seem to have to idea what Kim’s “surprise” will be, when he’ll send it, or how to stop it.
Oh jeesh no one else would have even tried to find a solution to this issue. Its pretty intractable, even Obama didn't do anything. Every president since Bush 1 has kicked the can down the road, and now the options to get out of the situation are essentially choosing between a rock and a hard place.
When will Republicans, both elected and citizens, start seeing this president for the failure that he is? He demonstrates neither insights into foreign policy nor the ability to read these authoritarian leaders for what they are.
Trump dismantled relationships with our long time allies to become buddies with North Korea and Russia. Look where it got us.
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"Instead, officials say, if the North resumes its missile tests, the Trump administration will turn to allies ..."
. . .
Good luck identifying who those poor saps might be.
It's amusing how the conman Trump has been conned by a bigger conman. The North Korean leaders had been trying relentlessly over the years to get a photo op with a sitting American president. They resorted to imprisoning some Americans then releasing them when a former American president would show up. That's the closest they got to an American president. Enters Trump, who thinks he is the master dealer, he gives Kim that photo op his father craved for. Listen people who support Trump your man is not as intelligent as he projects himself to be. And worse when Kim shoots off some missiles he excuses them by saying those are not part of the agreement. Sure tell that to Japan having missiles flying over their airspace.
"Fizzle" is a very appropriate word to describe Trump's foreign policies. He clearly doe not know what he is doing from one day to the next. His trust of dictators is jst plain strange and a threat to our security.
Will Trump supporters look at this failure that puts the world in danger of nuclear war?--or at least plausible threats of it...Or do they still think that Trump saved us just because he proclaimed so over a year and a half ago with no concessions--nothing in writing from Kim Jong-un.
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Maybe a better approach would be to have the two of them put gloves on and get into the ring and stay there until there is a knockout. The winner could then set the trading rules for the other as well. This may seem to be a dumb approach but it is not different than that which Trump has used to this point.
No matter what the US has tried, North Korea keeps moving ahead towards its objective of full nuclear status.
Before Trump there might have been a thin hope that a treaty with the US might have caused N. Korea to pause further development. But after tossing out the Iran nuclrar deal..........
And what about abandoning the Kurds..........
Only a fool would make a deal with Trump or the US.
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Kim, Xi, Putin and Ertdogan have been playing Trump like a fiddle. He is not in their league. Watching it would be hilarious if it was not a grave threat to our national security.
..., “Trump’s diplomacy”; now there’s an oxymoron for the history books ...
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Now the time for Kim to shake Trump's cage! Rile him up and get a great deal while Trump needs some good news to try and push. Kim should talk to Erdogan on how to do it
North Korea’s goal has always been to reunify the Korean peninsular under their regime. Their goal is to have the United States withdraw from or reduce their forces to such an extent that a rapid incursion by the North into the South along with the threat of nuclear retaliation by the North to anywhere in the world would leave very few options for the USA. The North have shown that they can survive with sanctions. As much as they complain about the sanctions they are really targeting the deployment of U.S. forces in the South judging that would be an easier concession for the U.S. to make rather than sanction relief given the West’s over reliance on sanctions. Make no mistake, the North’s 1.5 million man army is offensive not defensive and their nuclear arsenal is a deterrent. Also, they will always have China and Russia as the final deterrent.
Kim has reasons not to ‘disarm’, the Korean War that destroyed 20% of the population under fire bombing, and the often mentioned Libya and its Washington lead experience.
Bolton is gone but Pompeo lingers on.
Neither understood Kim will dissemble under carefully controlled conditions of International guarantees of security, not as response to reduced sanctions; those are merely sings of good will.
Too complex for Trump; needs new advisors.
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Re: Diplomatic Vacuum with N.Korea
The Democrats kept the President busy with the Ukraine
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Tell North Korea to keep the nukes and work with South Korea to remove the artillery at the DMZ.
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Yet one more example of this atrocious president's dereliction of duty.
He is the gift of a shrewd operator like Kim Jong-Un.
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Hopefully, for Seoul's sake, "fizzles" is also a fitting word for these missiles.
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It's more important for Trump to keep his delusional "good relationship" with Kim than to actually do something about NK's nuclear program. IOW, Kim is playing Trump the patsy like a cheap violin.
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“Trump’s diplomacy” the latest Merriam Webster example under the word oxymoron.
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And he wanted to be person of the year.
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So the real problem is us.
Our "hard liners" punish(sanctions) North Korea, including starvation, of their people because they have some nuclear weapons capability.
Currently, 9(nine) other nations have that capability, and in larger numbers, but we don't punish(sanction) them for this.
The United States of America has already killed many thousands of people(Japan) by using two such weapons of mass destruction but never any punishment placed on us.
The current countries with weapons of mass destruction Russia, USA,France,Great Britain, Israel, India, China, Pakistan and North Korea.
None of these countries have given up these mass destructive weapons.
Perhaps North Korea has the best reason to keep their smallest of any collection.
They say "Our small stockpile , is our best chance to keep the United States from attacking us ".
When the other eight nations(including China)give up their mass killing warheads, North Korea will then also relent.
Until then, North Korea will remain the ninth nation with weapons of mass destruction.
They won't give them up because of our punishments (sanctions) They'll stay alive by nibbling on something in the fields.
But have we forgotten a little something ?
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
M.W. Endres
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Well add this diplomatic disaster on to Trump's long lists of bankruptcies. The art of the deal---what a joke.
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Clearly, Trump skipped art class when they discussed deals.
DO NOT TRUST Trump or Kim but, further, do not trust any other world leader to stand by us. Trump has alienated from the free world by his attacks on our allies while firmly embracing the world's dictators as "wonderful people." The problem is, those dictators have proven by their deeds that they also cannot be trusted to back us. The only solutions rest in the absolute revocation of Trump and his Republican toadies. Impeachment of Trump is not good enough - America needs to show the world it can be trusted again by voting all of them out of office. If even one of them survives the 2020 elections, it will show that America still vacillates between being honorable and being despicable.
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Still, what ever Kim does up there, I'd ask today of our own leader:
So who's the Rocket Man now? Who is the "fat guy" "Rocket Man" with the "weird haircut" we heard so much twittering about a couple of years ago?
Was it not Trump who signed into law today the budget for a U.S. Space Force, a real live military fighting machine up past the ozone and patrolling the stars?
Maybe that's how our commander-in-chief plans to cut down down his former little love-letter pen pal, now that what's been clear to 100 percent of the rest of us all along may have actually reached into the ozone between the ears of our own spaceman.
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I remember that in riot control training, you should always leave the protesters, an "out". trump is leaving Un, "no way out", and he seems to put North Korea on the back burner because of his impeachment worries. I only hope that the people, who "advises" trump what to do, will take this North Korean challenge seriously.
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Bolton pushed for pre-emotive strike on North Korea? South Korea would then be invaded by the North with Russia’s and China’s help. You know the end of this story - THE END.
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This is fake news, there ain’t no nuclear test, no missiles, no nothing. It’s a joke, a hoax, a big sham! Ask anyone - Kim wrote me a beautiful letter and we fell in love! And once someone loves me I cannot be unloved!
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So much winning, my head is spinning.
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"Who knew that North Korea could be so complicated?"
Everyone, Donnie. Everyone.
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For those, who don’t care to get better informed, here is a bit of good news: Russia and China are planning to submit a joint resolution to the UNSec to lessen the sanctions, as a reward for Kim’ stopping ballistic a nuclear tests and offering even more, if he commits to full denuclearisation.
That is a much more sensible approach, than threats. Ask the SK government and they agree.
The spoiler in this whole thing is the US, the only player who doesn’t deserve a place at the table.
1
Yet another reason to exit California, alas.
'American military and intelligence officials tracking North Korea’s actions by the hour say they are bracing for an imminent test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching American shores, ... '
How is this possible? Aren't these people supposed to be very primitive people? When did they figure out how to build intercontinental ballistic missiles that can reach American shores, like we do?
Or, is this all fake news? I for one won't believe this until Trump says it is factual.
“I think he will do these things,’’ Mr. Trump said. “I may be wrong. I may stand before you in six months and say, hey, I was wrong.”
Now it has passed six months and I am waiting to see he Putin's Donny will come out and say that. Of course I am not holding my breadth.
More likely he may say, if he does come out and mumble, something like I am in no hurry. Every time he folds, and that is often, he never admitted that he was wrong.
By the way I have also been waiting to see the Donny's "fire and fury" show for several years now. I thought it would come on some July 4, just as the "military parade" starts. Again, without holding my breadth and I am still waiting.
His so-called "gradual diplomacy backed by the “boa constrictor” of sanctions" is the same toothless approach to Iran and we all know how it is working out, or not working out. The same garbage "policy" on N Korea will face the same fate.
Well, what can one expect when we have an inexperience, self-asserting, ignorant, and impulsive person sleeping in the WH, even if that persona is not Putin's drone?
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How well Mr. trump has managed the business with North Korea! What a fantastic leader who has foreign dictators literally eating out of his hand. What a man! What a fantastic example of "The Art of the Deal"! Fool that I am, I didn't appreciate the subtlety of allowing N. Korea to test their missiles, duping them into complacency just before the next tremendous (secret) diplomatic outmaneuvering Mr. trump has planned!
North Korea, if they were intelligent enough, would be asking 'why do we need such a tremendous incompetent at the head of the mightiest nation on Earth, a total fool whose only talent is that he lies perfectly to bigger fools?'
3
'The North refused to turn over an inventory of its weapons and delivery systems. '
This is so unfair of them. Trump had spoken to Kim so warmly and it was time for them to hand over the inventory and line up in front of the US embassy, sans clothes, so that we could readily judge their readiness for peace. If they were judged to be peaceful, Trump had offered to put up many Trump Towers along their beautiful coastline.
NK just blew its chance to have copies of Mar-a-Lago on their land.
North Korea will not stop the progress in developing and delivering the nuclear warheads. The best approach is to normalize the political and economic relations. We need to treat North Korea as a sovereign nation just like Republicans treating Trump as a normal President.
1
I thought Trump fixed all this North Korea missile stuff? In fact, he was supposed to have addressed the enrichment of Uranium as well as the development of additional arms, by Trump's account Kim Jong-un shouldn't be able to test a Hiroshima-grade weapon at this point of their supposed de-escalation, much less demonstrate an increasingly refined weapon from an increasing stockpile. Diplomacy is more than just blowing hot air and being naïve enough to believe sweet nothings whispered from across the Pacific, it's about projecting the power to demand respect that an inconsequential visit from someone lacking the power and respect does not.
1
I have been to North Korea.
There is nothing there there unless you happen to be the chosen few who live in Pyongyang and of course, the Little Rocket Man.
I can't understand how folks below fault our POTUS for this impasse.
At least, he tried his level best to engage an intractable foe.
And it's kind of ironic that folks below fault POTUS for failures while engaging North Korea.
But when he says the same with Russia - why "all roads lead to Putin."
And Putin is not lobbying missiles over heads of our allies or even threatening us with a "Christmas present"
This Korean regime has nothing to lose. Remember in the old days they would boast "we will punish the world by refusing your food aid"
Never mind, millions were dying of starvation.
If he does launch - as long as it does not fall within our territorial waters - we ought to just "shrug" and may be send a nasty tweet.
Sen Moynahan's "benign neglect" comes to mind.
The time is on our side and the Little Rocket man knows - his days are numbered.
Looking for a positive - Japan and South Korea may end their silly quarrel and get back together on the same page with us.
Let's not let a crisis go waste.
1
@Neil Trump went back and forth praising and threatening Kim Jong-un. There was no "impasse" under Obama's diplomacy. He put the brakes on Korea's nuclear arms development really putting "time on our side". Over 10 years a lot can happen as the world looks for ways to insure peace and world security. Trump tried bullying. It didn't work.
1
Isn't the phrase "Trump's Diplomacy" an oxymoronic one?
When Mr. Trump arrived as President, Mr. Kim labeled him a dotard, an elderly person hobbled especially by declining mental powers. In other words, Kim decided that Trump was not very sharp and didn't hesitate to declare that publicly for all to hear. Although reports, like this one, in US press, make the two leaders sound equivalent, my guess is that Kim's contempt for Trump's apparent low intellect makes it very unlikely that Kim gives an inch without getting a lot in return.
1
The president is the reckless gambler and Kim is the house dealer. House always wins.
3
@gcinnamon - "House always wins."
Not when Trump owns the House as evidenced by his casino failure.
Does this mean no Nobel for Trump?
2
wow, didn't see that coming...
2
You mean the photo op didn't work?
3
Guess he should have spent more time actually paying attention to his job, instead of preening and waiting for those "love letters" from Kim.
1
Looks like we are in the same place. According to trump the U.S. was on the verge of a war, which was untrue. He just rattled the cage.
Will this president ever understand that PR does not equal results. It equals PR. The truth will come home to roost soon.
1
N.Korea to give up nuclear weapons would require
1. An iron clad treaty signed by the US, China, S. Korea
that guaranties the continuation of the Kim dyanasty
2. Neutralization of S. Korea, currently an US alley
and a country in with the US has US troops and
radars capable of scanning large sections of China
3. An economic development plan that would lift the N
N. Korean economy within in a decade to that of
her neigbours
Of those , point 3 is the easiest, US industry would welcome to move supply chains to a country of very low wages, a highly educated work force and no labour laws
And point 2 , the most difficult. While the natural State of a small Nation squeezed between more powerful neighbours is to be a neutral "buffer" state, the US has a containment strategy of China that it believes it is essential for her own security
Just like everything with Trump, it is all about appearances over substance. He has no foreign policy towards North Korea. He does have pictures of himself shaking hands with Kim in front of very many flags though! The most flags in the history of flags!!
2
President Clinton contained North Korea's nuclear program with bribes, and it was working until W cancelled the agreement and threatened them as part of his axis of evil. NK promptly became a nuclear power (while W was invading the wrong country). Sound familiar?
1
@th
This is very inaccurate. While Clinton was in office, NK was pursuing a clandestine uranium enrichment program even while it suspended plutonium enrichment in exchange for financial aid. Clinton's "deal" was in fact NOT "working" because NK was still moving forward with a clandestine nuclear weapons program.
Trump made North Korean issue a reality TV show.
Did you expect a dramatic ending?
I didn't. It's a bizarre show. Period.
2
Trump's "very good relationship with Kim Jong-un" is insulting to every American citizen. Who cares if he's "in love" with a murderous dictator? What matters is he doesn't seem to be in love with the people of the United States, leaving us all to twist in the wind as his love interest betrays him, and us, behind his back. While Trump's living in his delusional la-la land, we anticipate North Korean missiles that can reach our mainland, with the high probability it could deliver nuclear weapons on command. Trump wouldn't know diplomacy if it ran him down with a bus. He's been played for years now, and the game's gotten serious while he continues to fawn all over another of his puppet masters. Unforgivable!!!
2
So the North Koreans aren’t trustworthy and they’re an existential threat. Who knew?
4
It is absolutely clear that Trump's "America First" policy includes a disregard for anyone else - be they the Europeans, those in Central or South America or the South Koreans. He would be happy to pull out US troops from South Korea to save money despite the consequences of the North invading the South to fulfill Kim's desire to unite the Koreans in one Communist state. Trump doesn't care as he believes it will not affect his base and he will be seen by them as having more money in the Treasury to be used to build his stupid wall - American first means spitting on everyone else.
3
To believe that Donald Trump is able to successfully navigate any kind of international negotiation is completely foolhardy. He is not very smart. He is willfully ignorant. He is entrenched in preset notions that are not grounded in fact. And to top it all off, he is lazy. How could expect an positive result?
5
This person in the WH endangers us all and our Democracy with his actions regarding North Korea. The irony and hypocrisy of an appeal to UN are typical. If the UN cooperates he looks like a hero, if it does not he can disparage that institution even more. It's a win/win for him. Historically in Russia the peasants could appeal to the Czar for relief from an erratic noble - perhaps we citizens can appeal to Putin who is now the Czar for relief from the madman in the WH.
3
What happened to the great deal maker?
4
"Trump’s Diplomacy" is an oxymoron
4
It’s clear to me why Trump’s diplomacy, as your headline puts it, ‘fizzles’.
It’s all about the carbonation.
When dealing with an adversary like North Korea, Trump may boo and ‘hiss’ them.
The ‘hissing’ sound produced is similar to the one heard when you open a can of soda.
Which is carbonated...
And produces a fizz!
That’s why Trump’s diplomacy ‘fizzles’.
Worth mentioning is the Carbon Missile Crisis.
Back in October 1962...
1
There were no complimentary peace overtures to Kim in all that time aside from a New York salesman's pitch. So what is the problem with not understanding why North Korea is proceeding? It's our General's fault to begin with after they convinced civilian leadership to go along with their "Pivot to Asia" as the South Asia wars were winding down.
This is a White House Whitewash news story. Sorry to be negative but we know how the controversy went and a story of the day doesn't make history go away.
The military lives to kill, so why is this any surprise. North Korea was made paranoid and I get it. Apparently not many others.
Bring our troops home, or you Generals can go there and stand on the D.M.Z. with you bravery risking your lives, not our young soldiers who should be back home after 68 years.
A golden opportunity to make a lasting peace was lost because you let our military government control you. With the new young Kim coming to power, you could have made peace. I know you must be thinking I'm naive. It is you who are cowards making trouble. I'm risking my own well being to write this.
1
@PATRICK Patrick, don't be so dramatic.
I criticize our own country every day in these pages and my well being is not in danger.
One good thing about our country, we can call our president every name in the book but he doesn't know it because he's too busy tweeting or playing golf.
North Korea will keep their nuclear warheads because they don't trust Trump or our country.
Can you blame them ? They make a deal with one president and the next one changes the whole thing.
Also Brexit and Great Britain , everybody out for themselves. This includes North Korea.
Don't worry about yourself, you are the least of the worlds worries. You'll be ok because you are careful and also a smart person. You understand this situation with N. Korea. I'm more worried about Pakistan having the bomb.
Anyone else out there having concerns that the man standing between a Nuclear Winter and world peace is Donald Trump?
4
@✅Dr. TLS ✅ - No, I fully believe that his generals would ignore any truly blunderous move on his part. When Trump first tweeted that there would be no more transgendered soldiers, an hour latter the generals sent out a "belay that order" tweet.
People always say that Trump has his hand on the button but right now, he is playing golf at Mar-a-Lago and has no access to nuclear weapons unless some generals carry out his order. History is full of militaries that took over the country to rid it of a despot.
Trump absolutely believed that by his “awesome presence” with ‘Lil Kim at his side all disagreements and difficulties would be resolved in Trumps favor. Not the US’s favor, but in Trump’s favor.
The fact that Trumps Cult is under the absolute belief that everything Trump does is solely for their total benefit will be analyzed and dissected for years to come. Trumps con job is nothing short of astonishing.
And that is also one of the reasons Trump likes Kim so much. Trump fancies himself a total dictator... just like Kim. And the rest of the globes dictators.
3
This is what happens when the photo-op is over and an attention-deficient president moves on to the next rally.
Of course this was going to happen!
When the U.S. first plays ball with a North Korean dictator ready for prime-time, then leaves him standing and a disassembled State Department isn't there to pick up the slack, it's only going to be a matter of time before the ballistic missile start flying again.
Are we honestly surprised by this?
4
Stable genius is not very good at this.
3
This is what happens when you elect a reality TV personality as president...
4
Another colossal failure of Trump and his shooting-from-the-hip foreign policy. PR stunts have a short shelf life.
2
Re Headline: "...U.S. Braces for Major North Korean Weapons Test as Trump’s Diplomacy Fizzles..."
How, exactly, does non_existent diplomacy...fizzle, exactly??
2
When two stable geniuses collide
1
Trump on his meeting with Kim:
" "I was really being tough. And so was he. And we'd go back and forth. And then we fell in love. OK? No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters. And they're great letters. We fell in love. But you know what? Now, they'll say 'Donald Trump said they fell in love, how horrible. How horrible is that? So un-presidential.' "
Diana Ross and the Supremes hit song: Where Did Our Love Go?" is appropriate just now.
Trump crowed about the meeting as a major diplomatic coup. Those of us with an ounce of common sense knew he was being played from start to finish.
In the process he made America look weak and stupid.
2
The administration’s argument has now changed. Should Mr. Kim resume tests, American officials say, it will be a sign that he truly feels jammed, and has concluded Washington will not lift crushing sanctions on his impoverished nation anytime soon.
Anyone been reading The Afghanistan Papers?
3
After reading this, it appears both Trump and Kim Jong un are trapped in boxes of their own making.
There are huge differences, however: the North Korean dictator is far more clever and intellligent, seeing right through Trump in ways he never thought possible.
It's hard to know if Trump really thought that "love letters" would forge a strong working relationship. Each side has calculated that what the other wants will lead them to fold, with one main difference: Kim Jong un holds the weapons and an iron grip on his people, while the Donald has clearly miscalculated, giving away the store in return for vague promises and is facing tremendous domestic problems in the coming months.
What's scary is, the more desperate each side becomes, the more risk for grave error.
161
@Christine McM,
Agreed. However, one doesn’t need to be very clever or intelligent to see through DJT. One need to have purchased a used car.
24
The funniest part about this is the idea that we can appeal to our "allies" and the United Nations. That is downright farcical at this point in history.
128
Don’t confuse public theater, intended for domestic audiences, with what takes place behind the scenes. Our alliances are as strong as ever.
8
Yup, all the trust by our allies and the UN is forfeited at this point.
11
@DavidH, if all of this public theater is for us - I want a different show!
17
To even think that Trump thought befriending a brutal dictator would “make things all better” was a fool’s errand and yet another failure triggered by an ego so inflated that it renders the mind moot. While reading this, I can not help but think of the Iran Nuclear Deal. Yes, if allowed the trajectory of Iran’s mind-set is a dangerous threat. But look what was accomplished for a short of time with the above pact. Nuclear proliferation there was reined in. Why could we not do the same with North Korea? The answer lies within an inept president with known war-mongers too close at hand.
79
Trump’s dealings with Kim have given Kim all that his father and grandfather sought, international recognition of their regime and freedom to become a nuclear power with global delivery systems, to deter the U.S. and South Korea from attacking North Korea. Trump got nothing in return.
2
@Casual Observer
You got the last clause wrong:
"to deter the US from defending SK"
NK's nukes were never intended for self-defense.
I thought they were in love and adored each other. On the other hand, I'd been taking the word of the American government.
1
Kim is really faced with only two options: Losing power or losing face. Trump has backed him into a corner that has no appetizing alternatives. If Kim becomes too weak politically the risk becomes greater that his military will force him out or compel him to act. If he wants to remain in power he may be pushed into a military strike against South Korea or the United States. That of course would lead to greater disaster as the U.S. would respond, not just in kind, but with far greater force. Then of course China will act fearing that the U.S. would march toward the border between North Korea and China. If South Korea prevails the threat to China might be too much for China to bear.
Hoping for a peaceful resolution is not a good plan either. Trump's sanctions have raised the stakes for everyone.
There are no good choices. Kim is cornered and Trump is continuing to push for ever greater sanctions against the North. If Trump backs off and shows weakness the North and China may believe it is open season on the South.
What is desperately needed is mutual ascension for all the players to back off and save face too. I don't know how that can be engineered if the economic noose is tightened even more. I believe the key lies with Trump. Remember the saying towards the end of the Vietnam War? "Declare Victory and go home!" Trump, are you listening? How about you Mr. Kim? Save face, Step back from the brink. Talk before it's too late.
2
@Jack Frost
I think that the most likely outcome is that the US will do what NK is demanding: lift sanctions and (eventually) pull out of SK.
I believe that the US will not fight another Korean war under just about any circumstances, and NK understands this quite well.
This means that both SK and Japan will eventually need to acquire their own nukes.
It also means that the era of US EXTENDED DETERRENCE of its treaty allies has effectively ended, around the world.
1
@Jack Frost Your comment and the reply from Gualtiero are closer to reality than most all of the other comments.
The hawks like Bolton and Pompeo are the least realistic.
Even Trump is smart enough not to attack North Korea because they have "The Bomb" and no one knows what will happen if they are attacked.That's why they choose to keep it.
In the end, North Korea will become the ninth nation to have weapons of mass destruction and they are no more likely to use it than our own country who, by the way, is the only country in the world that has ALREADY used two of them when we felt very threatened by the Japanese about 75 years ago.
North Korea is less likely to use this weapon than the U.S. Pakistan, India, Israel or the others.
The realistic outcome is that one more country has been. added to the list of "Nuclear nations"
The world's real worry is that some group of terrorists get hold of one of these. Pakistan is right smack in the middle of that crowd which makes Pakistan the most dangerous owner of nuclear weapons at this time.
Maybe India, the second most dangerous.
North Korea is like the magician , we are all looking at them, when the nuclear handkerchief is under some hat in India, Pakistan. It's time to get real.
1
Does anyone honestly believe that POTUS will put national security interest above his re-election interest in dealing with Kim?
4
It was OK for Trump to try, but, no POTUS has had much success in dealing with this. It was perhaps foolish for him to think he would make progress when no one else has been able to do this. It is also foolish to blame Trump if there is not progress. North Korea will do what they want. China has some influence and they may make headway someday.
3
Maybe the president could offer to withdraw sanctions if Mr. Kim announces investigations into the Bidens and that South Korean company Crowdstrike.
11
this is what happens when your president only cares about being in the spot light. fake president? fake summits. fake diplomacy. real danger.
7
@coale johnson He and his advisors are writing TV scripts to make Trump look like the most capable president we have ever had in oeder to compensate for what he actually is or is even capable of doing. They are not making foreign policy. And then behind the TV screen they are privately making deals that benefit nobody but the Trumps and Kushners.
3
Again Trump fails to accomplish anything with North Korea. But you would not know that from hearing him boast and exaggerate. The level of incompetence, willing deliberate ignorance and arrogance is amazing. Our president trying to avoid work, the opportunity to learn and making our country safer.
3
N. Korea never really had any intention of denuclearizing. They didn't sign the NPT and no country that has fully developed nukes has ever given them up.
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/korea/nukes-07252018142754.html
At some point it's going to come down to war or accepting N. Korea as a nuclear state. Nobody liked it when India, Pakistan and Israel joined the nuclear club, but they were reluctantly anointed.
War on the Korean Peninsula is unthinkable. This may sound radical, but let's formally end the Korean War, ease sanctions, sign a pact between North and South Korea and move on. If Kim tries anything, there's always M.A.D.
2
@Mark McIntyre
Yes, NK never intended to denuclearize, and was just trying to get whatever economic advantages it could from the US without really giving up anything of fundamental importance, such as its clandestine uranium refinement facilities. This has been their M.O. for three decades or longer.
Yes, the alternatives are either war or "accepting" NK as a de-facto nuclear state, and then easing sanctions and PRAYING that NK won't go farther (they will) and begin ramping up its extortion campaign to force the US to withdraw from the Korean Peninsula and terminate the US/SK defensive agreement.
THE PROBLEM is that NK really intends to use nuclear blackmail. NK has said that it wants to end "US hostile intentions". This means, at a bare minimum, getting the US out of Korea and terminating the defense treaty.
Once it has amassed a sufficiently large inventory of ICBMs, NK will increase its "provocations" to achieve its goals.
The problem with "M.A.D." is that it can be relied upon only for PRIMARY DETERRENCE, but not for EXTENDED DETERRENCE. The latter protects SK and Japan from attack by NK. But once US cities are at risk, NK will gamble that the US won't protect SK and Japan from NK aggression (which could be asymmetrical warfare, terrorism, cyber crime/attacks, kidnappings, etc.).
This means that both SK and Japan will need to acquire their own nukes, because they will no longer be able to rely upon the US for EXTENDED DETERRENCE against NK.
@Gualtiero
The status quo is not sustainable, and the long-suffering N. Korean people have been brainwashed. If Kim wants to rejoin the civilized world, help his people and behave, maybe they should have that chance.
If N. Korea then provokes as you suggest, that's the end of the Kim regime, and what I really meant by M.A.D. is N. Korea would quickly be reduced to a burned-out cinder and Mr. Kim knows it.
Where's that diplomatic dynamo Jared when you need him? You know, the one that was going to solve the middle east peace problem. I'm sure he can get this resolved...
4
Look everybody...another "win" from the demagogue who promised, "I, and I alone, can fix it."
9
Good grief, give it a rest already.
The arrogant amateur has been manipulated and out maneuvered on the international stage by the child tyrant. Despite the warnings of his predecessor, the dottard presumed his vapid bluster would prevail and instead the boy king called his bluff and runs roughshod over him for all the world to see. Perhaps most damaging, his hubris has opened the door for Xi and/or Putin to make inroads and prop up the hermit kingdom in their image. A worse course of recent diplomacy is hard to find. DJT is truly an international liability.
7
In my novel, "Fallout: remains of an atomic war*," after describing the nuclear attack the U.S. actually prepared to launch in the late 1950s, I describe how North Korea would retaliate: Submarine-launched missiles striking Washington DC and New York City. Our immediate retaliation. Then the Chinese and Russians jump in. We have seen them launch a missile from a submarine. Will my predictions play out. (*Amazon)
1
@Muskateer Al
It will be many years before NK will have a submarine capable of launching a nuclear missile with a range to strike the US East Coast.
The primary danger now are land-based ICBMs, which can certainly strike anywhere in North America, together with shorter-range missiles which can hit SK, Japan and Guam. In the near future, NK is expected to have solid-fuel ICBMs, which can be launched much more quickly than liquid-fuel ICBMs, and which therefore are more difficult to destroy on the launching pad. These ICBMs will eventually be stored in hardened shelters or underground.
@Gualtiero - All North Korea has to do to hurt the U.S. (and all capitalists) is to nuke Seoul and Tokyo which would reek havoc on economies everywhere except N. Korea. That would accomplish as much if not more than bombing the U.S.
You gave yourself a five star review on Amazon. Nice.
With Trump labeled as a profound immoral person he should loose his credentials to order any retaliation. The Democratic congress should take charge of the nuclear suitcase. I don’t trust any GOP to guard that suitcase.
4
North Korea dictators have played games between the PRC and the USA. The six parties talks in the past ten years only wasted time and let tyranny has bought time. Looking back the Korean War, the CCP pushes half millions of Chinese to the battlefields, most of them were surrenders from the KMT soldiers during civil war had been killed. So the communist parties are the most evil in the world
Something I forgot to mention in my previous comment. The North Korean regime has constructed its missile and nuclear inventory at the expense of feeding the North Korean people. If you take the time to read North Korea state controlled media, you will see that this is a theme that is repeated constantly as a way of justifying North Korea’s rigid and uncompromising positions.
The deaths of millions of innocent people to justify the military buildup is not something that any North Korean leader can easily explain away. I suspect that before North Korea gives up a single one of its weapons, the United States will have to give up several of its own.
3
As with the Middle East , leave them China and the Korean Peninsula to their own devices and protect the homeland.
1
When it comes to diplomacy Trump is a total zero. His approach is to let Kim, Putin and Saudi princes walk all over him and kiss their feet.Our democracy and safety are in jeopardy as long as he is in the white house.
4
No more "love letters" I take it.
4
Trump manufactured an imminent threat and a showdown with Kim to strut on the world stage "making a deal" with a dictator. Even with nukes, Kim poses no actual threat to the United States. If, for all the trillions and trillions of our tax dollars we spend on our high tech military, we couldn't detect and intercept an intercontinental missile launched in Korea, our money has been wasted. And of course our own nukes could obliterate North Korea within minutes if Kim was so foolish as to use his. We don't need any more drama from this drama queen president.
6
Yes I’m sure our allies will rush to help Trump.
4
What "diplomacy?" What Trump has done with Kim, and all other dictators and authoritarians he has met, has been to fawn, excuse, prevaricate and capitulate, with predictable results -- abject failure. Impeach him!
5
I long and pray ..
(yes, pray - even though I'm no longer a Christian - see Bob Vander Plaats, men like him and his organization - 'The Family Leader' as to why) ..
for regular press briefings, and for a moratorium on Mr. Trump using dead people as political fodder.
Everyone knows from Trump's business career that he is a pathological liar who can't be trusted as far as you can throw him. His presidency only confirms the fact that he can't tell the truth to save his life. He is all about celebrating his massively inflated ego.
The only surprise is that the media still covers his lies as though they might possibly be truthful. Instead of saying "Trump promised..." or "Trump asserted...," why not be more accurate and say "Trump again lied..."?
Now, if Trump ever told the truth, that would indeed be headline news!
4
I don't have much confidence in the reckless kid with the nuclear weapons. I don't have confidence in Kim Jong-un either.
6
It's Pyongyang that's received a "Christmas gift" from Mr. Art-of-the-Deal himself. Exploiting Trump's ego and his thirst for admiration, the North Koreans have conned the con man and potentially left the U.S. with reach of Pyongyang's ballistic missiles. “Nero fiddled while Rome burned.”
1
Kim isn't stupid. He's seen what happens to despots when they give up their nuclear weapons programs. Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein are perfect examples. An even better one is Ukraine, a country that actually had nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. They disarmed based on what turned out to be a false promise by the US to defend them. After Putin invaded, it became clear that for a "flexible" Obama administration, that defense consisted of sending blankets and K-rations. Insight aside, Kim benefitted in other ways from Ukraine's naivety. It turns out that the rapid success of their ICBM program has been powered by engines formerly mothballed in Ukraine. As previously reported in the NYTimes "It's likely that these engines came from Ukraine—probably illicitly".
Trump’s foreign policy efforts have fallen flat because he can’t be bothered to learn the issues and in any case he has a higher loyalty than our national security. It’s to his wallet (and maybe to Putin).
3
“…diplomatic vacuum has given North Korea more time to build its nuclear arsenal.”
With all due respect, this is utter absurdity. And deliberate bias.
North Korea would have continued to expand its arsenal in any case. They did so when Clinton, Bush, and Obama were president, despite sanctions and threats.
For example, imagine if Trump had continued with his “fire and fury” approach. Does anyone believe that NK would have NOT continued to build its arsenal? Seriously?
It’s true that it appears that Trump’s approach has failed. But we are no worse off than if he hadn’t tried. Indeed, in the global court of public opinion, we are better off to have at least tried direct negotiations.
Trump is being fooled by the North Koreans.It time to quit on them and have another approach to balance them.They are still dug in in the past and friendship with them will be a very very long path to follow.They are helping Pakistan in missile and nuclear technology,Iran and many other rogue nations.We need to create a consensus in the UN to check on this country and its path. so that it may not hurt others.
Engagement with North Korea has not yet found a path to denuclearization, Trumps track record is about the same as the last three Admonstrations misus the multi- billion payments to NK. Arguably engagement may bare fruit yet. 20 something years of payoffs got us no place.
1
Regrettably our current POTUS has no idea what diplomacy is.
2
Even though Kim has acquired and tested nuclear weapons and had threatened to use them, he knows, as does everyone else that should he follow through on his threats, it would be the end of North Korea. Let him test, let him threaten, let him spend his tiny bank account on killing machines. He will end up with more of what he has now - a museum of nuclear arms that can visite anytime he needs a boost to his ego. Any use of them would mean his own and his country's elimination.
2
"the Trump administration will turn to allies...."
What allies? The Europeans Trump trashed, threatened & ridiculed - the allies we saw mocking him?
Trump got played by Kim Jong Un.
Kim sized Trump up and decided flattery and love letters and pointless photo-ops were the way to go to stall Trump while he built his arsenal.
This was a total failure.
This is similar to Trump wooing & praising Putin while they have secret phone calls & Trump tells us he trusts Putin more than our intelligence operatives.
Murdering despots Kim, MBS and Putin have Trump figured out. Flatter Trump, pretend to admire and like him and claim problems will get solved. Meanwhile Kim, MBS and Putin go about their business: murdering our journalists, building a nuclear arsenal that can hit our shores, undermining our electoral process with plan to re-install Trump in another crooked election in 2020.
Trump's inability to understand basic human relationships & diplomacy is endangering us and our democracy.
Trump's gullible and thinks no one can resist his charm.
Kim Jong Un is about to prove him wrong.
2
With the Trump crime family in the WH and not one competent senior official in Trump’s administration, the United States is fully bereft of anyone capable of exercising informed, knowledgeable and patriotic leadership for the benefit of the nation.
A ship without a captain or first mate—-or third mate, or even a cabin boy—endowed with education, knowledge or experience in seamanship has a pretty decent chance of sinking or being run aground, with the loss of all unfortunate enough to be on board as passengers.
Is there not one member of Trump’s gang of GOP know nothing fools and enablers capable of preventing Trump from doing more damage to the country than we have already witnessed?
3
Well, Sadat >< Begin diplomacy Did work & still is, post-both mortems.
But Kim wrote such beautiful letters!
Just cannot understand it.
2
“Diplomacy”??
I think reporters need to use honest words and phrases such as “Trumps self proclaimed breakthrough”.
Diplomacy is defined as “the profession, activity, or skill of managing international relations, typically by a country's representatives abroad.”
1
Russia has many nukes but we don't fear that they will use them because we would annihilate them. This concept of mutually assured destruction as a deterrent to nuclear war seems to have worked for 50 years with Russia, China, India, Pakistan etc. So please explain why North Korea having Nukes is worse than any other country and why we should not be threatening them with annihilation loudly and clearly IF they should attack us as a way of keeping them in check? Americans need a good lesson on M.A.D. Once someone has the bomb, we can't seem to be able to take it away from them. Hence, there will never be an option to stop N. Korea from getting more nukes short of assassination which is illegal. We have enough nukes to stop them from using theirs but they need to be told clearly that that is our policy.
To use a baseball metaphor here for a moment...
Trumps actual batting average with foreign diplomacy, be it economic, or mitigation of military force focused... is essentially ZERO to date.
However, Trump.. always the self-promoting commentator, continues to claim he is batting a thousand. /eyeroll.
These are staples of the Trump administration:
Facts don't matter.
I'm providing alternative facts.
Truth isn't truth.
Fake news.
Only I will tell you the truth.
I'm the greatest dealmaker in the world.
But what about Hillary's emails?
Anyone and anything that disagrees with me is a liar.
It's just my style so it's OK.
Oh yeah?
Well to those of us who live in the real world, an ICBM isn't a talking point or an element of propaganda. An atomic bomb isn't an insulting, phoney press release. These are real things. They are things that wield enormous destructive power and the geopolitical influence that power brings.
Trump believes that he is the center of everything. That he and only he can solve all problems. He takes no advice. He can do no wrong. He is never wrong.
Trump's narcissism causes him to view the world in a delusional fashion which puts him at the center of everything and all else revolves around him.
As part of his delusions, Trump admires, no worships, true strongmen who do comand life and death over their people, or should I say subjects. Kim has used that weakness to lure Trump into a trap of false friendship. The trap was set and it worked.
North Korea has played Trump like a fiddle. Their strategic weapons programs has not slowed one bit.
This debacle is a direct result of Trump's mental failings. He is not fit to protect America from global threats. Russia knows all about it. So does North Korea.
5
Trump thinks he made a difference? The hubris he possesses thinking he could untwist the No Koreans. He squeezed them financially for years and nothing was accomplished. We should be tying them into agreements on the their nuclear weapons. The No Koreans do not worry about any counter strikes from us with the Chinese, Japanese, and So Koreans so close. So, make the NoKs accountable and limited while relaxing sanctions while building a retail outlet for us.
Sad but not unexpected that you put an anti-Trump spin on this. for 40 years other President's have failed to reach any agreement with NK, even when they had much more leverage. Who can forget that fool Madeleine Albright dancing and drinking with the North Koreans? Trump won't give up on this. It's slot of hooey to talk about "measured diplomacy". Didn't work.
1
@Bob The other presidents never announced that NK was going to stop testing and building missiles. They never pretended to be writing love letters to the NK leader. They never allowed themselves to be publicly snookered by the North Korean leaders. They waited until they had some concrete agreement to announce and used people from the State Dept
Getting laughed at by the European leaders and made to look a fool by the NK leader is something the bully in the White House personally deserves. Our country however does not deserve to be brought to this.
North Korea’s military capabilities must be destroyed at the earliest possible time. Enough of this nonsense. I’m a Democrat and I think it’s critical to remove this nuclear despot state from the 21st century. A full scale destruction. Do it for posterity.
Both Kim and Putin know that Trump is weak and easily manipulated.
3
The President did say that six months from the summit he might have to admit being wrong about the rapid denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. I doubt we will ever hear him admit he was wrong. I may be wrong. I may have to write back to the Times in six months and say, hey, I was wrong.
1
Another abysmal failure due to Trump's astounding ignorance and misplaced confidence in his ability to sweet-talk or threaten foreign leaders into concessions. Time has run out on Trump's photo-op policy.
1
Well, THAT was EASY. (north korea having become friend now)
Don't you love the direction our country has taken since 45 entered the picture. Delusion has its costs.
Putin is doubtless pleased Trump has bungled this and made our country less safe, seriously damaging our reputation.
Putin is getting what he paid for when he gave Trump the presidency - a clueless U.S. president who praises Putin while bungling foreign policy, alienating our allies and committing crimes.
.
The world out there is much larger than just the US & NK.
With Washington (& the entire US) about to be awash in the Senate's "trial" of T ...
I would think that any tin-pot dictator in the world would use the occasion for a power grab.
And - of course - all the other big boys are watching, too!
1
I can't take all these "Wins"....Oh, wait a minute what has Trump won? Of course, he built his wall and Mexico paid for it.
3
There is no impeachment trial. Not when senators are barring witnesses, willfully ignoring evidence, arranging with the White House lawyers, and stating their collective intention to defy their oaths to defend the constitution. The Democrats would be very foolish to present articles of impeachment to such a kangaroo court.
The Republicans are acting like the mafia, I would just let them simmer in their juices indefinitely. They need the trial a lot more than the Democrats. Trump is impeached - the fight is over, and he lost. He should stay in office until Republicans get rid of their own lame duck. If they leave him in there until next November, then there's nobody who can give him his sorely-needed Presidential pardon. That's the target I would be aiming for.
Another one of the thousands of lies Don Trump has told comes home to roost. We were told by Trump in no uncertain terms that the North Korean nuclear threat was over. Completely gone. Our children could sleep safely at night, blah, blah, blah. Nothing that guy says is ever true. Why does 38% of the country continue to believe him?
1
Trump is "speak loudly and carry a small stick". The world is laughing at us.
Oh, the disastrous failure of Donald throughout the lands, and far worse then my low expectations.
1
Trump, the winner of America's Worst President, never had "diplomacy", only what he thought was showmanship...and hot air. Can't wait for 2020 when the President of the U.S. will stop being the laughing stock of the civilized world and will become a leader again.
1
The likely reason for North Korea's continued nuclear program is our Generals "Pivot to Asia" during the wind down of the South Asia wars. The General's and the C.I.A. continually create enemies to stay in business. All military's do. So why all the surprise? With the ascension of the younger Kim should have come the will to make peace, but instead, you tried to dupe us into hating them. You are part of the problem, so be part of the solution. The North has made peace with the south, so why are we still there?
1
It looks like all the name-calling and insults and kowtowing didn’t work.
Putin does want the end of Western dominance. Trump is conspiring with Russia to accomplish Putin's goal, so yeah, a nuclear North Korea fits in nicely.
This can't be true, what about all of those beautiful letters Kim sent to our esteemed leader?
2
"Be Still My Cheated Heart."
So goes the great Love Affair with an uncommitted beau- with a flattering tongue; love letters torn into shreds and thrown on the heap of a North Korean nuclear stockpile.
1
Trump knows he’s been played, right?
Hardly. In Trump’s brain, his “negotiations” have been perfect and he’s made tremendous strides in denuclearizing North Korea.
2
Two strongmen who are both deeply insecure about themselves are now desperately struggling to cover up their insecurities, one by mean streak against impeachment and the other by streak of nuclear missiles. They are both like little kids, but very dangerous kids.
1
Kim has out-gamed Trump and America.
Trump cannot see it.
1
Sorry guys. Kim has a grim arsenal. N Korea will never give it up. Wouldn't it be better to work him into being part of the international community and help him solve his economic probems.
1
@stuart itter
So you're saying we should reward dictators for producing nuclear weapons.
1
@MidtownATL KIm has the weapons same as Pakitan and many other countries. Nobody gives them up. Much less likely to be used if he is an accepted member of the international community.
I’m starting to think Trump might be a phony!
2
What if America-- at an appropriate juncture-- were to provide N Korea with some apple trees, and maybe some honey bee colonies-- get them busy growing food?
What happens when Trump calls Kim Jong-Un peewee or pajama-boy? Gonna happen. I assuming Trump is beginning to realize that he had no chance of success without Dennis Rodman heading the peace delegation. Singapore was nothing but a cool train ride for Kim Jong-Un and now, rockets afire into the zenith. The North Koreans cannot loose face by launching a popsicle. It has to be a bemouth Roman Candle with the juice to carry it to downtown Tokyo or Hawaii.
Kim's people are starving. He doesn't want his country annihilated. Better to reduce or give up sanctions and reduce his incentives to build more nukes. Sanctions have not worked. Why continue this madness?
At least Dennis Rodman was earnest.
1
He probably would make a better president as well.
Weird. I thought for sure Trump's total lack of knowledge of the DPRK History, lack of understanding of why American presidents before him have refused to meet with the DPRK, total lack of experience in politics, inability to conduct himself as an adult, and inability to even make it through a security briefing would have turned out excellent results.
3
Trying to work with Russian and China to persuade Kim to halt building nuclear weapons systems is not working. Russia is the reported source of Kim's sudden success building rockets and thermonuclear devices. Evidently Putin likes creating problem's for the competition. Who knew?
Even North Korea can succeed when handed tested designs and given technical experts to assist. All Kim needed to do was find a few competent Korean engineers, they obviously have them, to oversee the work and then not shoot them for inevitable test failures. Why the Chinese supported creating a nuclear armed nation on their border is unclear. Evidently it seemed like a good idea at the time. Now they are stuck with their friend and need to keep him a friend. So sending an emissary to look for their help is a fool's errand.
I would think a state that cannot feed its citizens would go bankrupt building and maintaining a nuclear weapons arsenal. What's next: a missile parade with no fuel to drive the vehicles or soldiers too weak to march?
Kim is absurd and so is our engagement with him.
28
@RonRich You mean Trump's engagement with him, calling him a "buddy."
2
@RonRich Don’t be fooled, without China and mother Russia NK would have folded decades ago.
6
Except that ANY fuel and ANY food first feeds the military
3
Just barely above the fold (imaginary, since I'm reading the digital version), an article that basically informs us that we might get nuked in a couple of days, but hey, we got no options to stop any of it.
Thanks for letting us know. (I think.)
Is this what it has come to? I somehow doubt that if we had a different administration, this possible pending doom would be treated so nonchalantly in the press. I mean, really?
"American officials are playing down the missile threat."
Of course they are, because they have been downplaying our national security threat from inside, which is Donald J. Trump, a mentally imbalanced, cognitively challenged megalomaniac who snorts Adderall and waves his intelligence advisers away telling them "I don't believe this," when they push reports in front of him that he is unable to process.
The North Koreans are perfectly aware what they can and cannot do since they and everybody else listens to Trump's confidential conversations that he conducts on his unsecured smartphone.
Republican greed and corruption have made this country and the world a much more dangerous place. Maybe the planet would be better off without us anyway.
2
Whenever Trump apologists dismiss Trump's ad hominem tweets ("he's a counter-puncher"), or his vicious and incoherent rally performances ("he's Trump being Trump"), or his infatuation with self-serving conspiracy theories ("he can be a jerk" or "he honestly believes this"), they try to isolate as innocuous everything that demonstrates all the severe character flaws that we all saw during the presidential campaign.
But "Trump being Trump" is hardly benign and also shapes what he does in matters of substance. His self-congratulatory proclamations following his first encounter with Kim Jung Un and his wilful blindness to earlier NK missile tests are also "Trump being Trump." His relentless indifference to Putin's global interference in elections is also "Trump being Trump." And, of course, his cascading embrace of foreign interference in our own elections (what we saw in the Mueller report, then his willingness to welcome foreign government's offering him dirt on a political opponent to his actively soliciting dirt from the Ukrainie).
How can anyone watch this man and not acknowledge that he lacks the temperament and intelligence to lead the United States? November 2020 can't come soon enough.
1
As Kim, Putin and Erdogan are demonstrating, the world knows that as long as they flatter Trump they can do whatever they want without repercussions. It's like dealing with a toddler, but use "hotel" in place of "lollipop."
The US will continue to fade, as both an economic and political power, as long as Republicans are in charge.
1
The little dictator in North Korea knows full well that his country will be obliterated if he would dare to launch any offensive missiles at the U.S. or any of our allies. As with Iran, the Trump administration needs only to keep the economic sanctions going full bore on North Korea. Iran is already crumbling; there are riots in the streets of Tehran against the hard line mullahs who control the country to the detriment of the people. North Koreans will not revolt against Kim Jung-Un; they are simply to weakened by famine and economic blight to do so. But sooner or later even the little dictator will capitulate as the economic noose tightens.
Can someone explain Trumps diplomacy. There was sabre rattling, Insult trading and then there were such beautiful beautiful letters, and then nothing. Sounds like a two bit bromance novel,
1
Sorry, but how does the US brace for a missile thousands of miles from US soil? #1, it’s a test. #2, it’s no where near us. #3 The US runs military operations as it pleases right on the Korean coast. Are they constantly bracing for attack? If so, that explains why they might want to test their own systems, especially considering that our own military budget is close to 800 billion per year and leaked documents show we waged pointless war in Afghanistan for 20 years.
1
"the Trump administration will turn to allies"
What ally would that be? Do we even have those anymore?
2
The summit in Vietnam was a perfect frame for the picture of a man who refused to serve his country and now commands it's military.
1
What's the concern? Trump has told us that he and Kim have a loving relationship and that mutual love will stop Kim from being a threat to the US. Trump has downplayed any testing, by saying -- don't worry about Kim-- he likes to test rockets.
John Kennedy once said the time to deal with adversities like Kim is at the beginning. That didn't happen. Instead we used sanctions and Kim became more dangerous and and developed the bomb and missiles. Trump did try something. He met with Kim. It didn't pan out but he tried. No one else did. Sanctions were a weak and useless policy and were only for show. We are no worse off than we were when Trump took office. In Syria we were offer an opportunity in 2012 to work with Russia to end the war, have elections, and Russia agreed to ease Assad out. About 10,000 had died. Our foreign policy was to reject the offer. We know the result. Our response policy to Russia taking over Crimea was sanctions that were suppose put pressure on the Russian people but ended with Putin winning the election with an even higher margin and were significantly ignored by our friends in Europe if it cost them money. In the middle east. Obama was pressured by State to back rebels in Libya which has produced a terrorist breeding ground. In Egypt our relations were so bad, when Kerry went over there to mend fences, he had to undergo a search and full body scan before he was even allowed in to the room with their president. So those who want to talk about international relations under Trump have to throw a huge blanket over the failures on the past.
This is one of the few areas that the president actually deserves more credit than almost everyone assigns him. From 1953 to 2018, U.S. policy towards North Korea was remarkably unchanged from president to president, throughout both Democratic and Republican administrations. That policy of sanctions, containment, and intimidation, by any measure, was indeed an abject failure: North Korea went from moderately prosperous to true abject poverty, and yet somehow still managed to develop nuclear weapons. Trump continued that policy throughout most of 2017, and shifted when he realized it wasn't working.
I at least credit Trump with trying something new when he realized the old policy wasn't working. I fully realize that he probably did so with the intent of getting personal bragging rights, but I also fully realize that the gleeful cries of "failure!" being hurled by most commentary (to include those commenting here) is driven by personal disdain for the president rather than any objective analysis of the situation. The fact remains that, regardless of motivation, Trump is literally the only person in the past 66 years who's had the will to deviate from the absurd and ruinous status quo. I find it unreasonable, petty, and ridiculous in the extreme to gleefully cry "failure" on Trump's policy after two years, while acting as if the previous 63 years' policy was even remotely better.
2
@JAB -
The North Koreans have been playing a bad hand extraordinarily well for some time. The key to good outcomes there is to not give them good new cards.
The idea that Trump has done anything even remotely good there does not hold up. It doesn’t even pass the smell test. And he has most definitely weakened out hand against them - alienating the South Koreans, abrogating nuclear agreements elsewhere (eg Iran), undermining respect for human rights the world over, press freedoms, etc etc.
All these things matter to the N Korean leadership, and they have acted to maximize their power while assuming, correctly, that Trump’s bluster and bullying would blow away like a fog if they called his bluff.
He deserves no credit whatsoever. He has endangered us all.
1
Before Trump, the Kims were beyond reach of American diplomacy and we were utterly dependent on the whims of China. Trump has bypassed China and engaged in direct talks, however unproductive. This is a substantial improvement and serves national security. The worst fear is the fear of the unknown.
Trump has been played by the best in the game (NK).
And still the Republicans enable him.
When is it more about our safety than the Cult of Trump?
1
It's time for one of those "perfect" phone calls that Trump has mastered. Who knew that negotiating with North Korea could be so hard? Aside from every one of his predecessors since 1945.
With his turning his back to our Kurd allies, Trump has once again demonstrated the unreliability of any agreement the USA puts forth. There is no way Kim is giving in to hollow promises of wealth and prosperity for disarmament. With Pompeo led diplomacy near worthless in the Trump administration, nuclear weapons are both Kim's offense and defense.
Along with impeachment, a missile test is simply adding to pushing Trump's back to the wall. A cornered and enraged animal is the most dangerous, and Trump's recent incoherent rally speeches, irrational calls to Fox News, and bizarre Twitter storms make me question letting this man retain the nuclear codes.
In the past, Trump has promised to bring "Fire and Fury" onto any threatening action by an unrepentant Rocketman. Kim's Christmas gift will surely qualify as a threat and we all know Trump likes to claim "Promises made, Promises Kept".
While we are witnessing Trump's melt-down in real time, impeachment is turning out to be wishful thinking.
Invoking the 25th Amendment is probably the route needed for removing this threat from office. With Kim becoming more aggressive, waiting until November may be too late.
1
You mean Trump's photo ops were only that?
Sounds about par for the Trump "I have no idea what I'm doing because I refuse to seek counsel from people who understand the issues" course.
Trumps diplomacy, if it can be called that, is failing on all fronts, including and especially with North Korea. That personal relationship with leaders has allowed them to manipulate him.
43
@Nelsonius : Even a ten year old could easily manipulate Trump.
3
Re: "...That personal relationship with leaders has allowed them to manipulate him..." {@Nelsonius}
I'm reminded of that cliche, about Trump, (in this case...), being, 'played, like a violin'!
2
How do Trump supporters including evangelical Christians view this type of analysis of Trump's foreign policy failures? It's not that North Korea hasn't been unsolvable for decades but that the worst case scenario, a fully nuclear capable NK, has been achieved and is growing stronger all the time under Mr. Kim. I keep thinking about how some religious individuals view the end time, the eschatology found in many religious texts.
For the good of the country, trump should resign and let the next guy take on Kim Jung Il. trump is damaged goods, everyone knows by now he can't keep a promise, and Kim has taken his measure.
Donald Trump has a history of criticizing previous presidents, notably President Obama, for being either weak or ignorant on pretty much every subject domestic or international. Well President Obama warned Trump about North Korea on their nuclear weapons program in Obama and Trump's sole meeting..
Well, three years into their relationship, Trump and Kim have been on a circular path, returning to insults on both sides but with at least three main differences. First Kim got two meetings with a U.S. President giving him a legitimacy no other U.S. President would afford him. Second, in deference to Kim, U.S.- South Korea relations have been weakened. And thirdly, North Korea has advanced its military capabilities enormously thereby making it more dangerous than when President Obama warned Trump.
I harken back to Trump saying, "Nobody knew health care could be so complicated." following his campaign pledge of wonderful and inexpensive health care once he became president. North Korea is turning out to be one of many things the uninformed Trump is finding very complicated.
2
Don't know what our level of confidence is but intercept and destroy if possible.
Remember North Korea and Iran are cooperating on missile and nuclear weapons development.
The state of affairs between the US and DPRK is not improving as much as it could, however that will still take more time to evolve and will not improve drastically in the short term.
The relationship could always be worse than it is and will need more than Trump's TV showmanship to grow beyond empty rhetoric.
The US and DPRK should keep working at this.
There are so many reasons for Republicans to take advantage of Democrats‘ Christmas gift to rid themselves of Trump, once and for all. And this article provides one more reason. They could go into their convention with a candidate who could win the election in 2020. But, they have convinced themselves “the base” demands Trump. I’ve lost count of all the political sensations who are left in the scrapyard of history after they fall out of favor. And Trump won’t be any different. It not “if” it will happen, but when?
1
What makes this news is that Trump made this about himself, as he always does. Thus, it is his personal failure. N Korea is a difficult problem. I would not fault Trump had he begun negotiations in good faith with US interests foremost. But he didn’t. He made it personal and personally, he’s not capable if dealing with complex issues like foreign policy.
72
@Doug Lowenthal
Let’s not forget who made a “deal” under which NK developed nuclear weapons. It wasn’t Trump. Once that happened, every president has played with a short hand.
1
Re Doug:
Everything Trump does is on a personal level. Trumps personal level and how everything reflects directly upon Him. It is always and only about Donald Trump. There is no “we”, as decisions made in the best interests of the citizens of the US, but rather it’s all about Trump.
Always has been, always will be. 
7
@KBronson
Clinton made a deal to end NK’snuclear program that GW Bush reneged on. Is that what you’re referring to?
8
When Hillary Clinton said we don't want a unified Korea, she was speaking on behalf of many powerful interests. Not the interests of most Americans, of course, but that narrow few who really haul it in in the form of arms sales, political contributions, private sector board seat opportunities. Also forget about peace with Russia anytime soon for the same reasons.
8
@Edwin
Actually, China would never accept a unified Korea in the US sphere--so it would have to be within the Chinese sphere of influence.
The South has not interest of trying to absorb the North. It would be a drag on the economy of Korea for decades.
8
@Edwin: "When Hillary Clinton said we don't want a unified Korea, she was speaking on behalf of many powerful interests."
The two points of this article are:
1. After a couple of years of threats and dealmaking Trump-style, we're back to the same strategy with which the previous four administrations dealt with North Korea. That includes the administration during which Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. That's right, the Trump State Dept is doing the same thing as the Obama State Dept.
2. During the Trump Administration, North Korea has improved its missile capability and probably doubled its stockpile of weapons-grade uranium.
Finally, in case you forgot, Donald Trump won the 2016 election. Isn't it time to start focusing on what he's done during the last three years and stop bringing up Clinton as a distraction?
Care to discuss how Donald Trump is speaking on behalf of Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and a lot of other powerful interests?
3
@Edwin - Thank you for clarifying that it's Hillary Clinton's fault that Kim will most likely test weapons. Also, it's obviously everyone else's fault but the Russians for the state of US - Russian relations. Right.
1
"Trump's Diplomacy"? Trump "diplomacy" consists of watching Fox News and tweeting invites, flying to a photo op, glad handing the man of the moment, and quickly moving on. This "diplomacy" seems to work with the people in the Deep South and in Fly Over Country. With the rest of the world? Not so much.
74
@Joe Miksis Sorry, but I live in "fly over " country and it never sat well with me. Trump's diplomatic skills are a joke.
1
I think that North Korea's current action is really no threat to us or South Korea, but showing Trump stating that he loves Un would be useful in helping to defeat Trump in the coming election.
18
In less than 3 years in office, Trump has made the world a more dangerous place for America. His turned a blind eye to the mounting nuclear threat from North Korea even as his Obama-envy led him to pull out of the nuclear treaty with Iran that was working. He has alienated and abandoned allies a the same time that he tried to cozy up to Putin and Xi, with the result that the two of them are now working against us to get around the North Korean sanctions. And, on several occasions, Trump has shown that in the final moments, he will back down from confrontation, conveying to the world that the US is a paper tiger.
Trump told us in his inaugural address that he alone could keep us safe in a dangerous world, but he has only made us much more vulnerable. Why the Democratic candidates aren't hammering away at Trump and his GOP enablers on this point is beyond me. Instead, they let themselves get preoccupied by childish infighting over whether they should be accepting donations at wine-cave fund-raisers. Shame on both parties.
55
@Luomaike
Nah. There really is only one bad party in this whole political nightmare - Trump’s GOP.
@Luomaike Tell us, what did Clinton do to make the world safer by giving Kim Jong-Un the fuel oil and nuclear reactor technology that they promised would be used for energy production, but instead was directed towards the development of nuclear weapons? And what did Obama do to halt nuclear development in North Korea except to watch one ballistic missile test after another? At least Trump is doing something, rather than sitting idly by as both Clinton and Obama did, while North Korea makes the U.S. look like a fool.
2
@Luomaike
Trump is the responsibility of Republicans.
I worry more about Trump's reaction than Kim's long range missile test. If Trump feels he's been humiliated publicly by the youngster, especially in an election year, only Twitter knows where he can go and what buttons he might push. Trump is the irrational actor here, not Kim.
33
@Rick,
Sadly, I think it’s a tie.
1
Trump and his Republican enablers.
1
Would any Trump diehard supporter tell me what Trump has himself actually done successfully. Has he strengthened our alliances with old and trusted allies? Has he improved regulation and supervision of the cleanliness and purity of our air and water resources? Has he done anything to temper the dangerous weather that is constantly growing more threatening? Has he stopped China from stealing American technology? Has he stabilized the the Syrian situation and preserved the peace the Kurds had carved out for themselves? Has he brought the Arabs and the Israelis closer to a peace agreement? He talks much, rambles more, and boasts of his greatness and accomplishments,
But in reality what has he done---other than to claim credit for the economic slow growth started by Obama? Has his massive tax cut been really beneficial, other than to the few very wealthy? And has he helped with the migrant flow other than to cage their torn-away, separated children in cages? And if he get his wall built will it be more successful than his love affair with Kim of North Korea?
43
@shimr I am not a trump supporter but I will say that Trump has managed to TROLL the country very successfully. He's a natural. I think this is what his supporters like most about him (and the general Republican tax cuts and reduced regulation stuff).
@shimr - He has `successfully' ballooned the deficit to a trillion dollars, despite the US economy roaring at a full clip. Ergo, at exactly the time that the government should be posting surpluses to prepare for downtime, Trump is pumping capital into the market to try to get some temporary feeling of achievement for a very foolish electorate.
And remarkably at the same time he's asking for historically low interest rates to be dropped further, and for quantitative easing....during an economic boom. It is absolute economic INSANITY.
Remember when Republicans were against deficits? Oh, wait, that's only when Democrats are in power.
2
@shimr
He has Tried to do many of those things, where The Saint didn't even bother. Nothing to challenge China from Obama. He had to exit from the rear of the plane when he visited that's how little respect they showed him. No action on N Korea, just kick the can and call it Strategic Patience. He ( Trump ) at least made an effort. You want someone who looks elegant in a suit and talks fluently like a Prince Charming but who has No Backbone and No Spine keep voting for that kind of candidate. I want Mr. Trump, so I will keep voting for HIM.
This N Korean threat unsettling to say the least. Lately there have been TV ads advising American families to prepare for disasters with a website: ready.gov, which is an official website of the Dept of Homeland Security. Reminds me of the sixties when nuclear threat was prevalent. All related?
And then, there's the Russian spy ship that was operating off the coast of Florida recently.
How will our dysfunctional government deal with real threats
to our country?
14
Ready.gov has been around for all of the Obama Administration. Unfortunately, many people believe that there is no need to prepare for hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, floods, the loss of electric power, earthquakes, and other potential problems. They go blithely through life expecting that someone will save them.
1
@Phoebe Republicans don't consider Russia to be a threat as much as a donor.
I can't understand why Trump doesn't call his good friend to straighten out this mess.
23
@Fred: He's got to offer more amenities in the hotel he's promising to build in North Korea and maybe a free two-night stay every year for Kim.
1
Trump knows nothing about diplomacy. His idea of negotiation is taken from a bully's playbook: pretend friendship while searching for the soft spot to punch. Or sue. Or scam.
This simplistic approach can work when you're trying to build a hotel and just don't want to pay the contractors. When complex international relationships are at stake, however, Trump shows his amateur status at every turn. Simultaneously, Trump is getting rid of the professionals who do understand, but who threaten his ego and his attempts to hide his personal secrets.
27
@Barbara - Trump knows little about anything, to such a degree that he is blissfully unaware of how profoundly and completely ignorant he is. That blindness to is own lack of knowledge makes him think he knows more than everyone about everything, and that everything has simple answers that only Trump can see.
..."they are bracing for an imminent test..."
Not sure I like you reporting methods. Just please give me the fact without the propaganda. "Bracing?" What are you trying to say? "....Trump has no good options to stop it." More of the same. For decades there has been no way to "stop it" so I miss your point.
I suppose a quiet weekend approaching a holiday and you must catch our attention. This is what NK wants and you gave it to them. Did you want to scare us? Anyone in DC working for peace these days? The expert politicians know the public needs and enemy and they try to give us one. Russia-gate? Yikes. Most of us have moved on from that nonsense but the media still tries to insist that Russia did some hacking and some kind of "interference" in the last election. I assure you it did little interference in the last election. Phony stories that Mueller couldn't even make work. Mueller told us about the "Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq" some years back also. Phony stories, planted stories, etc. I'm not talking Trump "fake news." I can't stomach him; I'm talking about what some call the "deep state" and its fake enemies. We need no more wars in the Middle East -- waste of lives, and money we need for health and welfare of the people. Military Industrial Complex. The horror of our times. Please don't promote it.
3
@Frank: Maybe you haven't been paying attention to the news:
On December 5, the North Korean Foreign Ministry issued an official statement: "The dialogue touted by the US is, in essence, nothing but a foolish trick hatched to keep the DPRK bound to dialogue and use it in favor of the political situation and election in the US. It is entirely up to the US what Christmas gift it will select to get."
Last time North Korea promised a "gift" to the US (July 2017), they launched their first ICBM.
Of course, no one is forcing you to read the NYTimes, but if NPR asked John Bolton about a likely North Korean provocation last week, then probably most of the media--- even Fox News--- is probably aware that something is up. It's not clear why you would think this is propaganda.
1
I’m sure that makes perfect sense, provided you’re not being hacked up with an axe, executed with an antiaircraft cannon, choking to death after nerve gas poisoning, torpedoed, victimized by state terrorism, or stuffed into a labor camp, Mr. Chamberlain.
@Frank You never read the Mueller report, did you Ivan?
1
Trump and diplomacy in the same sentence?
Forgive me, I only ever see Trump and criminal in one.
23
Trump after Kim’s nuclear test: I guess we’ve fallen out of love...
9
Trump’s NK initiatives were utter and complete failures. Trump ceded our dignity and many other things to NK and got absolutely nothing in return except a loss of respect from the rest of the world.
16
Republicans in Congress and Fox News will be able to convince Trump’s followers that it’s “all Obama’s fault” and things would be much, much worse without Trump’s masterful negotiations with the Great Leader. But everything will only stay under control if Trump gets re-elected, otherwise we’re doomed.
6
Well, the US has now also disrupted relationships with our allies, and befriended heinous dictators - thanks to Trump, Pompeo, Bolton. So our words and opinions mean nothing. All I asked was that Trump not spark a nuclear conflict while in office - and was that truly asking too much?
15
Test of a true politician is to artfully explain why the promises did not materialize. You must give Trump credit for already thinking in advance of many excuses for his failed policies, such as if he loses 2020 election, he would call it rigged by the Deep State. Let us see how creative he gets in explaining why his love with Kim went sour and bore no results.
15
@PK2NYT "bore no results"? Well, we must be patient. I bet Trump Enterprises got a great deal for that property on the beach. Once developed we can all come for a nice stay. AND it will be protected by Kim's missile system. Easy.
@PK2NYT
Easy
The explanations is that initially Trump thought Kim was a Good Guy.
But then Kim became"Litttle Rocket Man"
And accordingly he was threaten with " Fire and Fury"
But then he became a Good Guy again;
But now, back to Little Rocket Man".because today Trump has acertained that Kim is a disgusting liar.
He promessed personnally to Trump that he would get rid immediatly of ALL his bombs and missiles, in exchange for Trump saying he was a Good Guy;
Well he isn't, at least today
But the truth is that Trump does'nt treally care about Kim.
Trump knows, as we all do, that Kim is not ever planning to attack the US.
He only wants to be left alone.
But Trump pretending to defend America by insulting the Little Man may bring him some votes...
Or at least it makes him feel good.
Does that answer you question?
That Bolton suggests North Korea may be bluffing indicates to me that he is trying to minimize the possibly ill-considered, aggressive decision of his and Pompeo's to reject Trump's idea that at least the worst sanctions could be lifted if the Yongbyon plant were dismantled. It seems that Trump was actually trying to bargain in good faith.
The bottom line is that there is no way to force North Korea to do anything. One can only hope that Kim and his government officials will bargain in good faith as long as we do. And that is the problem. There are no positive guarantees when it comes to North Korea. But one negative thing is certain based upon historical realities -- increased sanctions or the failure to lessen current ones will only make them dig in their heels.
11
@EMiller " It seems that Trump was actually trying to bargain in good faith."
That's funny. Thank you.
20
@EMiller Why should the US give North Korea massiveness sanctions relief in return for the entirely symbolic concession of demolishing ONE obsolete facility? That’s not rational diplomacy.
3
@EMiller Countries which own reliable nuclear weapons and have the capability to deliver them have no need to bluff.
"...the Trump administration will turn to allies and again lobby the United Nations Security Council for tightened sanctions ". The same allies and United Nations which Mr. Trump has disparaged, while declaring his love for the despotic Kim Jon-un. Mr. Trump is out of his depth when dealing with diplomacy on the world stage, because he has no understanding of it. He wants to treat diplomatic matters as business deals with a profit in it for himself, such as building hotels in North Korea or withholding military aid from Ukraine unless his political rival was smeared. With North Korea and its mentally unstable dictator he has created a clear and omnipresent danger because of his bungling of negotiations, and juvenile approach to diplomacy. Other Presidents did not directly deal with Kim Jong-un, but kept him in check.
The threat of a nuclear strike at Christmas is now uncomfortably real. Stephen E. Biegen might be our only hope to calm the situation, he at least has had experience in dealing with North Korea, but has not been successful in directing U.S. policy in regard to North Korea. He came up empty handed in trying to negotiate with North Korea in October.
North Korea is now holding all the cards. There are no cooler heads to prevail. We have two mentally unstable leaders in a stand off, and one of them will make a move, unless perhaps Russia or China defuses the situation. Russia does hold sway over our own leader...
45
Well said. Imagine having to depend upon Russia and Putin for “sane” diplomacy. Shaking my head that Trump supporters and Republican lawmakers have put us in this deflated, powerless position.
13
@Diana wrote: "...North Korea is now holding all the cards. There are no cooler heads to prevail. We have two mentally unstable leaders in a stand off, and one of them will make a move..."
Yes, but...Mr. Big Guy Business Man got that so-called great trade deal he can boast as a win. Little good that will do, if....
Agree completely with your comment.
8
@Diana
Yes, Russia is certainly part of the mix due to Putin's influence over Trump. What if Putin feels it is to Russia's advantage to provoke conflict between N. Korea and the US?
1
Here we are yet again facing the erratic and ill thought-out version of Trump "diplomacy." One wonders if Trump's insistence at befriending ruthless dictators from the Middle East to Russia and North Korea is a result of his skewed self-image of omniscience or his total lack of knowledge re history and especially the art of diplomacy. Apparently it is both of these character flaws. So as Trump remains obsessed in keeping innocent victims of oppression from across our southern borders from safety, we are facing yet another threat to our national security. It seems as if the country of ours does not have a chance toward security and stability with Trump at the helm. What now? Another war where Russian and China. too, will be sure to abet this crazy dictator, Kim?
15
Trying the same failed methods over and over again is a certain path to failure. That's what the US had been doing.
Donald Trump is a failed president in many ways, but setbacks with NK are inevitable for any president. It's an intractable problem that will continue to threaten us.
I'm a firm believer in at least trying to open dialogue with our enemies. Everything else re: NK has failed in the decades prior.
7
@HotGumption It failed in large part because naive American and South Korean politicians have repeatedly given the Kim regime big concessions in return for very little or nothing at all. How long before we learn that appeasement doesn’t actually work?
It would be refreshing and absolutely astounding if Trump and his administration just once admitted that they were wrong, could have handled it better, and maybe weren’t quite as smart as they seem convinced they are. Instead we are constantly reminded that it was someone else’s fault, the magazine is left leaning and so on and so on. How can people take this man seriously? Isn’t admitting we are all prone to mistakes a key component of being a decent human being?
23
@ Ted Siebert: Were we talking about a decent human being?
The North Korea negotiations are a microcosm of Trump's egregious incompetence as President. Negotiating with North Korea is NOT the same as negotiating for a new Trump Tower in an American city.
But Trump is sure that there is such an equivalence. He's just dead wrong.
Kim is absolutely certain that his nuclear arsenal is a guarantee of his very existence. He watched the United States kill al-Gadaffi and Saddam Hussein. He's listened to Trump renege on innumerable international agreements. That fear and that -- fully justified -- lack of trust in Trump is what is driving Kim.
Kim is absolutely certain NOT to trade his own death and that of his regime for Trump's ludicrous empty promise of hotels along North Korea's East coast. Surely with "Trump Tower" plastered all over them.
19
What nonsense. Trump gave it a try, and it did not work. Now future presidents will know precisely with whom they are dealing when they meet Kim Jong-un.
“The expected North Korean escalation will leave Mr. Trump with an unpalatable choice. He could reprise his alarming threats of military action from late 2017, infusing the 2020 election year with a sense of crisis, which could cost him votes — and risk real conflict.”
Crises like this would likely improve Trump’s chances of re-election. The American public, by and large, are not doves seeking to avoid conflict at all costs. Rather, the typical American of today has never truly tasted war and seeks to defend American “honor” by overreacting with zealous patriotism and bellicose rhetoric.
If Trump makes North Korea a crisis in the run-up to the 2020 election, he will realize a net gain in votes. If North Korea reacts by insulting American prestige (up to and including attacking American targets) then Trump will win in a landslide.
4
@Phillip
Ah, yes, but don't forget that along with his beautiful health care plan, Trump campaigned on stopping" the endless wars."
@Phillip
Well said. We shouldn't assume Trump doesn't want an attack by N. Korea. It would be a perfect excuse for him to shut down government and 'suspend' the election. IMO, he doesn't want any possibility of losing.
Occasionally as in the debacle of a Nato meeting recently and this disastrous North Korean approach, we are reminded that it's just not a threat to our democracy that Trump poses, not just the demeaning of our politics by his corruption and vulgarity that he represents, but that his incompetence threatens the whole world. It's simple, really: he doesn't know how to be president.
25
If there were no cameras, trump would have nothing "to say" about anything.
25
@Howard Clark Or if his twitter account was rightfully suspended.
8
Oh, these are just more 'Love Letters' from Kim.
Sorry, the absurdity of this administration has really affected me.
I'm sure our president has a few surprises of his own in his arsenal......either coming or going.
5
The art of the deal won't work here. Trump faces that same reality that his successors did. N.Korea wants the benefits or a deal without giving up its arsenal or its leadership's control.
9
Diplomacy fizzles? Who was deluded enough to think there was any to begin with? Please.
18
@Holly absolutely true and all supporters of the grifter king would be in the streets with their giant read hats if obama had done even 1/100th of what the-worst-thing-that-ever-happened-to-the-united-states has done.
You do have to give him credit for earning his forever title now, though...#3*
Why don't you give Mr. Trump a bit of a break? No one has any ability to control Kim Jong-Un. It is really about 100% up to the North Koreans whether they disarm--to some extent--or not. There isn't much pressure that anyone can bring to get them to alter their behavior. You know, some other country besides the US could maybe step up and try negotiating with the North Koreans. Maybe another country would have better ideas than Mr. Trump. Say, Sweden or Finland or Canada. The Times likes using those countries as examples of ideal societies. So they would probably do a lot better than Mr. Trump.
6
@Gordon Wiggerhaus Kim Jong-un doesn't care about those countries. We are supposed to be the mightiest country in the world. To make a fool of our President and have him say they are "in love" makes NK look good and Trump look ridiculous. Especially when Trump cancels military exercises and Kim thumbs his nose. Great job!!
1
Despite Trump’s mendacity I hoped that this was one of policy area where he would have some success. Unfortunately, it appears that hasn’t happened. It’s time to award him the Ig Nobel Prize.
7
Meanwhile on another front, Iran has returned to purifying nuclear material. If we had anymore diplomatic success I don't know ow we could stand it
14
Yes but Trump and Mr. Kim are in love. That's what's important.
9
I wonder how Kevin feels about this. Perhaps Maureen could ask him for an update since Trump's handling of North Korea was one of the accomplishments Kevin admired.
8
But but the master deal maker said that NK was no longer a threat. What happened?
8
So two egomaniac would-be dictators try to negotiate a peace treaty so they can look good to their respective people. Neither one gives a rip about the good of the world, the safety of the South Koreans or Japanese, or the long-term health and safety of their citizens. The goal is to look good while palling around in posh surroundings, and hope that the other guy has more to lose by doing nothing when he gets home. Neither one is entirely sane. Just what were the diplomats imagining would come about?
7
@Paula One IS a dictator, not a "would be". That should be more than clear!
Wait, the Great Negotiator hasn’t solved this problem yet? Huh.
Who could have possibly foreseen that a canny foreign dictator might be playing our in-over-his-head bankruptcy king by stalling him while his country keeps developing its weapons program?
Oh yeah. Everyone.
16
Trump is probably watching tv or eating a Big Mac right now, so I’m sure he’s completely unaware of this looming test. Japan, Korea and the rest of Asia, however, are no doubt fully aware of it.
8
“Trump’s diplomacy”. Isn’t that an oxymoron?
13
I wouldn’t call shared photo ops of two spoiled silver spooned megalomaniacs diplomacy. Propaganda, delusional behavior, and narcissism might be more apt.
12
This utter failure of US military muscle to scare away North Korea or any other country which has a autocratic regime that hardly care about US sanctions, hardly care about quality of the lives of people there, have no obligation to face public opinion should be a wake up call for US policy makers and military planners. Number of such states are growing as US is retracting its global leadership. Rise of Putin's Russia and Xi's China would make the situation more complex.
In fact, US has not convincingly won almost any war, since Vietnam, using World's "most powerful" and most expensive military bankrupting our own economy.
Yet, Trump (forget his childish tantrums and lies, for now) and many such politicians are playing in the hands of weapons manufacturers and defense contractors. These so-called Pro-Business Politicians are grossly neglecting the State Dept and diplomacy while increasing the probability to use, basically waste, way more tax payers' money and American lives in foreign wars. Many of them are going on for ages with no decent end in sight and without even having any tangible objective(s) either.
100
@Bonku : Here in the US, socialism is of, by, and for the weapons industries.
23
We need a combination of good ongoing diplomacy and at the same time a high level of intelligence information to counter whatever craziness NK dreams up next.
Problem is, we have an absolutely incompetent president who has bungled diplomacy and who derides and weakens our own country's intelligence services. And our adversaries know this.
With adversaries who are corrupt but sane, this is a problem; with an adversary who is beyond corrupt and utterly unstable, it is a disaster waiting to happen.
20
@John: What Trump knows about others is usually a projection of some part of himself.
3
@John
The problem is much more "fundamental". Since 1994 (if not sooner), the US has pursued a policy of Peace at any cost, and has repeatedly demonstrated to NK that it does not have the slightest intention of ever again fighting a war on the Korean Peninsula. This notwithstanding years of military exercises with SK and the shows of force in neighboring waters.
We are very rapidly reaching the point where US deterrence and containment of NK has come to an end (indeed, I suspect that we have already gotten there).
NK will shoot off ICBMs to prove that the US will not shoot them down, either because it is unable, or because it fears the consequences.
3
I have a big problem with your using the words "diplomacy" and "Trump" in the same sentence. It is not possible.
32
Trump accomplished exactly what he set out to do - draw attention to himself, create dramatic photo-ops, and send a bunch of self-congratulatory tweets. His supporters, ever tolerant of his failures, will respond with "at least he tried" or something similar.
At some point, this kind of superficial self-promotion that passes for foreign policy will end in disaster. It might be Iran. Maybe Syria. Four more years of Donald Trump and it will happen.
30
@Dave Superficial self-promotion is Donald Trump. You are correct that the full-on Trump Cultists will not only tolerate this failure, they will find some cockamamie way to applaud it.
But he needs more votes than the Trump Cultists can provide, he needs some others to decide he's doing okay. A North Korean ICBM test will undermine his chances.
I had figured that Kim would understand that Trump had given him great leverage. I was expecting Kim to wait until the presidential campaign was in full swing but Kim may be counting on impeachment to make Trump even more malleable.
3
Behind the scenes, Trump could feel provoked. Better keep an eye on him.
11
Will Trump order a bold (but disastrous ) military action against Korea? No. I believe he is so incapable of believing Kim never loved him and was never going to denuclearize that he will sit on his hands and spew lies to the American people about how we’re keeping the Korean nuclear program under great control. “Nothing to see here folks”!
1
@Rick GTA
He will send an angry tweet. That is all he is going to do.
1
A desperate cornered Trump could create enormous risks for America. Trump may try some form of aggressive military action against N.Korea as a way of rallying more support for him in an election year. A frustrated, furious unhinged Trump is capable of this kind of erratic behaviour.And there is no adult in the White House to restrain him.
20
@Milton Lewis
The Joint Chiefs of Staff will not permit Trump to do this.
Nevertheless, NK might cross a real "red line" and trigger military action by the US, with the full support of the US Military.
1
But maybe a nuclear winter would solve the global warming problem? President Trump would get to be a hero for the environmentalists without even admitting that climate is an issue. Win-win.
@Gualtiero Really? Do not be so sure. Trump is the all powerful Czar.
Every aspect of Trump "foreign policy" has failed. His kisses up to dictators to get attention, gives in to them with nothing in return, leaves multinational deals because they were negotiated under Obama, and has made small changes to Nafta that mostly favor Democratic values.
He rages against our allies, and Nato and bows to despots like Putin, Kim, MDS, Erdogan and Duerte.
He has been EXPOSED as a total phony.
21
@Diane Gould
he is actually a Putin/Russian asset
all to sell his poorly consructed overpriced ung a potch condos in Moscow.
1
The saga of Trump and North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear arsenal, bungling tidily winks from Art of the Deal Donald while his bro-man Kim stockpiles more bombs and missiles.
Diplomacy by flailing about incoherently while the NK side plays nuclear hardball.
In the background China and Russia play by their own rules and interests.
8
What "declarations of warmth" between the United States and North Korea? Before Trump, there had never been such declarations and certainly not since the North crossed the 38th Parallel in 1950, beginning what we call the Korean War.
Trump aspires to despotism, but it's a North Korean specialty.
6
Kim will pull the football away when Trump tries to kick it.
The reality is that Trump and his "diplomats" don't understand the complexities at play on the Korean peninsula. Kim will keep his weapons as it guarantees his sovereignty and makes any type of first strike again NK impossible. As long as Kim can skirt sanctions and have China to buffer anything the US wants to do, he will continue to make headlines and keep his nukes.
8
@glennmr: The "Football" is always teed up near Trump. That is what they call the satchel with the nuclear launch codes.
@glennmr
If this is the total extent of NK's nuclear blackmail, we should consider ourselves to be extremely lucky.
Donald Trump is such a bad negotiator that he would not even be able to close a deal with himself.
12
@MidtownATL: Some people think they can beat scammers like Trump. People like Trump always win. You don't have to wrestle with pigs either.
" the Trump administration will turn to allies and again lobby the United Nations Security Council for tightened sanctions — a strategy that has been tried for two decades. " Mother Russia?
5
Unless there is a worldwide coming to our senses, nuclear proliferation will continue. What next? Japan and South Korea? Kim knows he has the advantage. If he continues to push, it may backfire on him. But what does that mean for the rest of the world?
Where is the goodwill, the intelligence, and the incentive for world leaders to come to grips with this? Peoples of the earth should demand it.
4
Did anyone really believe Trump stepping over the 38th parallel was anything more than a publicity stunt, like all of his foreign policy and domestic policy attempts are? Anybody remember the middle class tax cut he promised about two weeks before the mid- term elections?
25
@jwgibbs I'm enjoying the "best health plan, ever" that he gave us ALL. Miraculous!
4
What diplomacy? Arriving unprepared is not diplomacy. Not doing the hard work before meeting is not diplomacy. Tweeitng and name calling is not diplomacy. A photo op is not diplomacy.
74
"Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!)."
And now, back to reality.
22
But no worries, Trump's stalwart base will still believe he has established the best relationship with NK to date.
18
This is the "Skeeter/Cletus base" who do not take kindly to your " highfaluting book reading ways". We are on the world stage, not in Possum Trot Kentucky
Real progress is only important in reality, not on reality tv.
16
Un figured out trump is all hot air and TV noise. He saw that trump was out to be seen with him as a prop. Trump needs to try and show he is doing something. He spends 1/3 time golfing. 1/3 time trying to control the media and Twitter and 1/3 time at his rallies. He has no time for climate change or negotiating.
24
There was nothing about diplomacy in Trump's agenda. It was all just a series of photo ops.
22
Well, Trump tried to con North Koreans with some vague economic prosperity in the future and it did not work. Apparently nobody in the international stage is as gullible as people in his casino business.
This is a spitting image of China deal. Trump and his gang staked out a thuggish position that China first give in to all demands and the US will then gradually dole out the qui pro quo. When China refused, the gang crumbled like a cookie. Kim studied Trump's modus operandi and he'll now try to replicate the China deal.
Trump now has two choices. Relent on the demand that North Korea denuclearize first before any sanctions relief and go with the step-by-step approach that North Koreans' been demanding from the beginning, or adopt Hilary Clinton's "strategic patience". The "fire and fury" huff and puff obviously is not an option anymore unless we are willing to exchange 10 major cities from New York to San Francisco with Pyonyang.
6
Now that he’s impeached and unhinged, there are no guardrails.
The greatest fear among us is that he doesn’t exercise his constitutional power as commander in chief and begin a military conflict as a diversion from his constitutional violations.
Most of us, at this point in his presidency, put nothing-Nothing!-
past him.This includes taking military action against, N.Korea, Iran or other adversaries. What will stop him from threatening the guy he once called “rocket man,” then thinking they were pals exchanging “love letters,” and perhaps realizing now that he’s been played all along? Maybe taking military action against Kim is just the ticket to show those “awful, Democrats who hate our country” what a great president, a “perfect” president, like Lincoln will do to protect our nation from a corrupt leader.
I hope this scenario is wrong and the “oranges” of his nuttiness will be stopped.
9
@Regards, LC
This makes for a juicy Hollywood movie, but does not reflect reality.
The US Joint Chiefs of Staff, together with civilians at the Pentagon and the Leadership of the US Congress, will simply not permit Trump to go off the rails and attack NK without justifiable provocation.
1
@Regards, LC Ironically, it was once Congress that had the sole power to declare war on another country. Now, after years of slowly giving away all its hard-earned powers (Constitutionally defined) to the "executive", we find ourselves "here".
1
@Gualtiero ,
And you know that because...
It would be foolish to characterize Trump’s failed approach to North Korea as a bold and brave gambit under the ambit of nothing ventured, nothing gained. A bold and brave gambit would nonetheless have been clear-eyed and had a multi-layered strategy to account for failure and contingencies. Here, not only did the foolish gambit fail, but the global diplomatic framework around N Korea has collapsed under Trumps incompetent State Dept, as well. All while North Korea continued to advance. Now, we aren’t just back at square one, we are in considerably more peril because while we failed, North Korea’s calculated and disciplined strategy succeeded. This was the predictable result of a clinically narcissistic and delusional president who thought his own ignorance-is-bliss leadership style and charm were enough to protect our troops’ lives, our lives in Guam, Hawaii and the US mainland, as well as those of our South Korean and Japanese allies.
At least I can look at all this through the eyes of former Tump UN ambassador, now booster, and heir apparent to the State Department (or more) Nikki Haley and find solace in knowing we are exactly where God wanted us.
6
For years the North Koreans suffered catastrophic launch failures. In July, 2017, two years after changing designs and suppliers North Korea made its first successful launch of an ICBM. On August 14, 2017 the NYTimes reported that "North Korea’s success in testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that appears able to reach the United States was made possible by black-market purchases of powerful rocket engines probably from a Ukrainian factory with historical ties to Russia’s missile program".
It seems fair to ask who really put the nations security at risk, President Trump for insisting that president Zelensky investigate the endemic corruption that facilitated the transfer of such lethal technology or career diplomats like Fiona Hill who apparently were too busy sipping champagne and dining on caviar with other diplomats to notice.
@tim k Trump has never said anything about investigating what you describe. He was pushing only to investigate Hunter Biden. Fiona Hill testified about Trump's corruption - seems like she was paying attention.
8
Fizzles? When was there a time when anything was a possibility with The leader of North Korea. I totally missed that. A headline in search of some facts. No, maybe click bate? However, this, North Korea, may be a good example of what happens to a country when military might becomes paramount to the prosperity or well being of its people.
Donald Trump is as believable in his expertise in diplomacy as the tooth fairy is to those over 10 years old. With apologies to astute nine nine year olds!
15
The simple (and cheapest) solution to the Kim Dynasty costs 35 cents, and takes one millisecond to execute. The trick is getting the gunman close enough to do the deed. Later, when the cameras show us how the DPRK's Auschwitzs and Dachaus operated (before Korea reunited) and the world, once again, thanks the brave liberators, we can let the back benchers debate why it took 70 years to end this horror show.
4
@Dr. Tim Dosemagen
Do you suggest that the zone be flooded with assassins rather than send soldiers or missiles? Sounds like an idea to be considered.
@Dr. Tim Dosemagen
Will you be the first to volunteer to volunteer for this act of brave liberation?
Sounds like the sort of plan 'backbenchers' would dream up.
@Dr. Tim Dosemagen
Great movie script!
My recollection is that this did not work with Hitler, so I don't expect it to work here either.
As long as NK does not fire a nuclear missile, Trump diplomacy is doing fine. Trump has not given anything to NK and he should even though NK is unlikely to give up it nuclear program. The rockets are the security for the rocket man. What happened to Libya's Gadhaffi for giving up the nuclear program is best said by Ms Hillary Clinton and I quote "We saw, we came and he died" and then when 4 brave Americans died in an embassy in Benghazi she said in the investigation "What difference does it make" What I cannot understand is why there are so many Democrats still hate with Trump for defeating their darling in a free and fair Democratic exercise called elections.
Trumps endeavors and efforts in giving Kim a lot of time has helped in improved relations with South Korea, release of hostages and release of remains and de-escalation of tensions. It was certainly not a fruitless useless effort unlike the stupid baseless partisan impeachment sham of the Speaker Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler. I expect Trump in 2020 will have another meaningful meeting with Kim where he will make some humanitarian concessions to NK and gift NK with agri products.
1
@Girish Kotwal
I expect Trump in 2020 will have another meaningful meeting with Kim where he will make some humanitarian concessions to NK and gift NK with agri products.
Please remove the rose colored glasses.
1
@Girish Kotwal you make it sound like Trump has some strategy for NK, when I reality he does not. Going over there and shaking hands is not a strategy.
1
I feel safe under the thoughtful leadership of mr Trump and his minions said nobody ever.
14
The NYT seems happy to report that Trump has failed to correct a problem that has been festering and started back in 1950 and has continued to this day. Each President after the Korean war ended almost 70 years ago has failed in their efforts to stop North Korea from becoming more of a menace. This entire mess should have been stopped when the US was the World’s only nation with atomic weapons. I was a child when General MacArthur was fired for insubordination during the Korean War, but I do recall we were given a day off from school to honor his service. today people try to re-write history, but the reality is that if we got it done then it wouldn't still be here today. Today there are two Asian countries that give us the most problems. North Korea and China. It did not have to be that way and is not Trump's fault. He at least is trying where all the Presidents before him since the end of the Korean War failed to even speak to North Korea to try to settle things.
1
@NYChap If only Truman had let MacArthur start WWIII.
Trump claimed great diplomatic progress but there was none. And of course we did negotiate with North Korea in the past, we just didn't reward Kim with a summit.
1
Amazing that most people commenting have nothing but blame & hate towards Trump. One reply states it all that the North Korea situation has been going on for 30 years and if anyone is to blame, go back to the Clinton administration when he gave authorization allowing N. Korea to go nuclear. Check out who the deputy under secretary of state was and fast forward to Iran. You can’t make this stuff up but yet, by all means lets blame Trump.
1
@Linc Maguire
we don't blame him at all. After all, he has achieved great success at being a failure.
4
@Linc Maguire Authorization? You Trump folks sure like to make things up.
For the record no one authorized North Korea. They decided they didn't need any such authorization. They negotiated in bad faith for relief from sanctions. We realized their bad faith but still sanctions did not get the job done.
It's not that Trump didn't succeed--it's a very difficult problem. It's that his approach was all about getting photo ops and cheap publicity and apparently he didn't realize that he was giving Kim leverage. Leverage which he is now trying to use.
2
@Linc Maguire I blame Trump for his arrogant dismissal of previous efforts and his grandiose claims that he could settle the issue with photo ops but no homework. Respect for the complexity of the problem is essential. A hollow man with empty policies and predictable results,.
When will politicians learn that you can't reason with terrorist regimes. Let Kim have his missile test. It's meaningless. The understanding is that if he uses live ammunition threatening an ally, then he and his country will be nuked to dust. With that threat over him, Kin Jong Un will do nothing beyond firing inert missiles into the ocean.
3
@MJG If we nuke North Korea to dust how many South Koreans, Chinese and Japanese will die from the radioactivity? And how many nuclear armed missiles will they manage to launch? Perhaps if they keep testing they'll have one that can reach Valley Stream.
You say we can't reason with them but you assume they'll be rational enough not to start a war which they would lose.
The chance of a North Korean attack is low to be sure but a situation could arise which would make if far more likely. If our sanctions provoke unrest there who knows what Kim might do.
It's not an easy problem. I wouldn't criticize Trump for not solving it, no president has been able to.
I do criticize him for so valuing a photo op with Kim that he gave Kim leverage.
1
@Jack Toner North Korea is so backwards and poverty-stricken that they will never have the ability to strike the US, despite the pablum the media feeds us. Let them fire missiles into the ocean with abandon, with the understanding that even one live missile fired at an ally triggers their nuclear annihilation. Tactical nukes will have less radioactive fallout on our allies than Hiroshima did. I could care less about China. You dance with the devil then you love with the consequences. And if all North Koreans are destroyed, then sorry to hear it. Better them than our friends.
1
To be honest, my cat when dealing with birds and dogs is more of a diplomat than Trump could ever hope to be.
12
This is really about Dictators Xi and Putin pulling the strings to try to pressure Trump. After all, N Korean is but a client state.
The US has many ways to push back including a full blockade, crushing cyber-attacks, full scale leafleting of NK, and propaganda against itsy-bitsy Kim.
Kim turns the lights off each night and now it seems it's lights out for Trump's "diplomacy".
4
In spite of his talk and his tweeting
Trump’s flirtation with Kim seems fleeting
Kim will start up testing
And I doubt he’s jesting
So much for granting him a meeting
12
Rather disconcerting to note that the ace cadre of dedicated, heroic, patriotic Foreign Service Officers haven’t rushed through regular channels to deal with North Korea. They must be otherwise occupied?
1
@J Brian What an absurd comment. Our diplomats execute the official policy of our country. That policy is set by the president.
In Ukraine Trump sent Giuliani to conduct a clandestine policy while our diplomats tried to execute our official policy. Trump could have changed the official policy but he didn't. Are you capable of wondering why?
BTW we don't have diplomatic relations with North Korea so there's literally no way for our diplomats to rush or even mosey through regular channels.
But I am speaking of reality which means nothing to you Trump Cultists.
Reality TV is not reality.
1
Trump is and ever will be All Hat and No Cattle. Kim Jung Un is No Hat and All Cattle and he needs to give us a taste. He just wants recognition. Sadly, there's just too much else going on in the World right now.
2
i hear the new missile is extremely evasive and doubles down.
they're calling it the "Donald."
6
Fuggedabout Trump's bromance with Kim Jong-un and let's see if Kim is testing his ICBMs that can reach our shores. Another Christmas gift Donald Trump needs? Our American dotard president already has too much on his plate this holiday season and is nursing his battered ego here in Palm Beach right now.
No recent declarations of warmth and love in the icy reality of Trump's and Kim's former fire and fury relationship. Still some festive hope is hanging on the colorful peace ribbons near the DMZ between South and North Korea today. Hope fluttering in the cold breeze like prayer flags in the Himalayas.
Hey, this isn't the first time our impeached president has been wrong! Things haven't worked out the way either leader had hoped in their promises to break the deadlock on the Korean peninsula. What's lurking in Donald Trump's and Kim Jong-un's futures? Kim won't be deposed from his absolute dictator's throne any time soon.
2
It is ‘better to jaw-jaw than to war-war.
1
Diplomacy, what diplomacy?
4
Wait. You mean our stable genius who believes in photo op diplomacy hasn’t brought Kim to heel?
Trump would certainly sell out his own country for luxury beach condo developments (or maybe a billion dollar Trump Tower in Moscow), so why hasn’t Kim?
Maybe the secret foreign policy advice Trump gets from Putin isn’t really in our best interest. Maybe Putin actually wants us to fail on the Korean Peninsula, in Syria, in Ukraine, and essentially everywhere. Maybe Putin wants us divided at home and neutered abroad.
Maybe Trump was duped about Ukrainian interference in our 2016 election just as he’s been duped about how best to engage with North Korea. But at some point you have to wonder if our impeached president, aka IMPOTUS, is a willing accomplice doing exactly as a malign foreign power intends.
6
The official policy of the previous administration was "Strategic Patience" but you call Trump's effort a 'diplomatic vacuum'? Really? NK is trying to gain concessions Trump doesn't want to give so no progress has been made. We just might shoot this missile down, or maybe its time for a bloody nose. Kind of sad what side its clear some are on here.
@GregP
on the side of success. Trump is on the side of great failure. His making, not ours
1
I will wait with interest to see how our President frames this in order to claim another great success due to his great friendship with Kim Jong-un. Or, perhaps it will be time for him to pivot back to threatening destruction and warning about using his big button on his White House desk that will start a nuclear war.
I think the first option is by far the better one. In any case, no one else has been able to solve the North Korean problems.
28
It’s a little late now, but in retrospect we should have made clear to NK that there would be very serious consequences before they first tested a hydrogen bomb or an ICBM. The Russians should also have paid a price for facilitating the transfer of Ukrainian missile technology to NK.
4
@Michael Tyndall Consequences like what? Are we going to starve the common people of North Korea? Does Kim Jong-un appear to be suffering from the sanctions? Or maybe we can start and lose another ground war with them. I mean, look how successful that's been in Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and North Korea...
@Michael Tyndall
Going back further, it would seem that perhaps MacArthur was right.
1
The only thing to save this is for Biden to be the next President and to have President Obama appointed as special negotiator with outlier regimes like this one. He has a successful track record with the Iran nuclear deal and perhaps the most honest Administration in American history. Integrety matters.
19
@Ernest Ciambarella Bin's son has good relationship with China State Owned Corp
Should we be surprised Trump's diplomacy fizzled? The man is the least diplomatic leader on earth.
60
Is it too much to hope for a missile defense like the one Ronald Reagan mused about, a "star wars" interceptor of sorts? I used to think that with the passage of time, something like that was made possible, but if it was I am now sure that Trump has told pals Kim and Vladimir about it and how to avoid it, jus, you know, among friends.
6
Trump has made a number of enemies with his ham-handed handling of diplomacy. Any nation, if you are listening: feel free to interfere with his re-election attempt. He said it was fine.
22
It’s disappointing that many people are using this to bash Trump.
What specifically could any president do to stop NK’s drive for nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles?
Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and Obama all failed with their strategies. Now it looks like Trump will have failed with his attempt at peace.
Perhaps we should just accept that there is no strategy to stop NK from having nuclear weapons and delivery systems, because rightly or wrongly, they really, really, really want them.
What is the benefit of Trump’s attempts at peace?
Even in failure, it at least shows the world, and especially South Korea, that the U.S. sought a peaceful solution. That alone is a victory.
What was lost in Trump’s attempts at peace?
Nothing. The U.S. is still militarily engaged in SK and Japan. Maximum sanctions remained in place throughout.
Some people are so blinded by hatred for Trump, that they can no longer think clearly. Sadly, such people are just weakening the U.S.
13
@John
The only thing Trump "lost in his attempt at peace" was the cover of TIME magazine.
3
@John: What good has it done for the US? Cleaning up Hanford Reservation alone is expected to run past $6 trillion.
2
John, Trump announced that the nuclear threat was over after the meeting in Hanoi. Kim saw he could take advantage of a man who was only interested in photo-ops and declarations of victory not substantive progress in limiting their program. He ended military exercises without receiving anything in return. Trump has earned this criticism by his horrendous manner of negotiation.
10
Photo ops are not diplomacy. Trump has neither the intellect, character, or integrity necessary for foreign policy.
68
There is no there there, there never was, and there never will be. North Korea never / never had any intention of compromising on its missile or nuclear programs. It made that clear numerous times in its official state-controlled publications. We just weren't reading / listening.
As for the "Christmas gift": North Korea will not harm militarily the US or our allies, because it is not willing to risk what might well be a disproportionate response. Kim Jong Un is surrounded by old military men -- they almost always appear in photos with him -- who have seen war and do not want to re-experience it.
This will all go down in history as one more unproductive US attempt to tame a rogue regime.
9
@Jgarbuz
I disagree. Peace treaties with the US do not guarantee an attack from China, Japan, or another nation state. I'm not saying such an attack is likely, but the North Koreans will want to be prepared for any scenario.
2
@David H Should there be danger to the US, we can feel sure that Mr. Trump will consult his dear friend Putin as to how the US should respond....
Why would this failure be a surprise.
Trumps mafia style of diplomacy has in his 3 years delivered disaster after disaster with more to come and one of them could end up to be disastrous for our country.
But what do his followers care about our country as they blindly trust their a man who after multiple bankruptcies is now fast on his way to add America to his list of failed businesses.
19
December 21, 2019
How good of Kim Jong-un to add to Trump's diplomatic
agenda in response to the weapon testing. As well Trump is dealing with both Nancy Pelosi congressional politicking and Jong un fire making for perfect opportunity to engage in reality governing for a happy great times.
2
@Jgarbuz
"Now if Schumer called for a peace treaty with North Korea, and if Pelosi offered a peace treaty to Trump, maybe the wars could end."
That is the job of your State Department, which would be Mike Pompeo. Nothing to do with Schiff and Pelosi.
Read up on your own government before making foolish statements like this.
Every expert said it wouldn’t work so they got rid of the experts. My kids will be sitting out Korean War II but I’m sure trump supporters are ready to pitch in.
16
So much for Trump's Nobel Peace Prize. It's been a bad week.
But, on the bright side for Kim Jung un, he got Trump to raise is country on the World stage to the level of the United States. And he gave nothing in return. The least that he could do is to announce (but not pursue) an investigation of Joe Biden.
11
You guess trump will turn to his allies. It will be interesting to see what level of support he gets from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Phillipines, Israel and possibly Turkey.
12
Trump has been played by Kim Jung Un, just as he has been played by Vladimir Putin, Xi Xinpeng, and Recep Erdogan. He has no foreign policy and is incapable of engaging in diplomacy. He has damaged our country's standing in the world nearly beyond repair.
23
The facts are trump gave NK and we got nothing in return. Is that the definition of winning?
7
I recall Soviet agents post Cold War saying they were stunned the US ever considered not installing missiles in Europe and that US peace overtures were a waste of time because it never was going to come to terms.
For the US not to have obliterated NK nuclear sites in the 90's when we had the chance is unforgivable. No nuclear state needs to negotiate. China needed the US to develop and would have done nothing to stop us. We'd have been doing it a favor putting its client state back on a leash. The warning would've been if it shot a missile to the South we would attack its capital.
Now all we can do is hope to contain and surround nuclear NK in a colossal waste of resources. It knows it cannot use the weapons but it can use them to blackmail the world for economic benefit.
Welcome to appeasement. Trump assumed minimal appeasement would work but NK is a big time blackmailer.
1
@AG
I do not believe that it will be possible to contain or to deter NK, now that it has a noteworthy arsenal of nuclear missiles which can destroy SK, Japan, Guam, and soon the continental US. When push comes to shove, NK will threaten all kinds of provocations (including asymmetrical warfare and WMD proliferation) to compel the US to lift sanctions, then to withdraw from SK.
The most likely outcome will be the relaxation and eventual abandonment of sanctions over time, plus a US military withdrawal from SK and de-facto termination of the US/SK defensive alliance.
Both SK and Japan will need to acquire their own independent nuclear missiles.
The catastrophe began no later than 1994 under the Clinton Administration (if not sooner with Bush I). The US was unwilling to go to war then, and much less so today. Surrender is so much easier than war, especially when the "targets" of NK aggression are SK and Japan, not the US.
Here is the proof: the US is reportedly unwilling to shoot down NK ICBMs in flight (which it has an absolute right to do, especially if they threaten the US or its allies), let alone to destroy them on the launchpad. The reason: too great of risk of triggering yet more severe NK provocations, or outright war.
This is what happens when your goal is PEACE AT ANY COST.
@AG: ... and Patton didn't want WW II to end before his tanks took Kamchatka.
There was no diplomacy at all on the part of Trump in dealing with North Korea except to present himself in the company of a brutal dictator however isolated and disliked he may be in the world. It was Trump who lent legitimacy of sorts to the North Korean leader.
9
The NK's are ramping up the pressure because they want money. That's what they always want. Their economy is garbage. Almost no one buys from them. Meanwhile they import energy and other costly, vital essentials.
I might grant them money. It's cheaper and less deadly to help them out economically than fight with them.
In exchange I'd expect them to hand over their weaponry.
Let's get this niggling annoyance over, once and for all.
2
@MIKEinNYC: At best, building nuclear weapons is a completely unproductive activity.
1
There is the niggling issue of tens of thousands being tortured or killed in prisons. I am sure money can fix that, too.
2
@MIKEinNYC
You are applying your ideology to the NK government and Kim....it really doesn't work that way.
Trump must publicly tweet a final warning to Kim that if he dares a long range test, we will send troops to instigate a brazen and overt revolt by his people.
And, our troops will make him glow -- in person and literally.
I don't think China or our allies will mind. China has bigger economic problems to worry about. Macron and Trudeau have smaller concerns like pranks and snickering.
It’s not just Trump’s “diplomacy” that fizzles.
4
Kim played trump like a fiddle. He cozied up, flattered his ego, and all the while kept building his arsenal unabated. Now Kim can make demands of the US president and expect to be treated on equal footing. trump has sold our country down the river and we are now at the whims of a third world nuclear regime.
6
@CP: How did the US get stuck in this when Korea lies between China, Russia, and Japan? I doubt North Korean military planners intend to nuke South Korea.
Actually, all of his foreign policy initiatives have failed or are failing. In addition to North Korea, one can just run down the list Ukraine, Syria, Venezuela (getting Iran contra retreads involved was truly inspired), relations with Europeans, caving to China on the trade deal etc. The only success of sorts was the USMCA treaty but that took a lot of fixing by Nancy Pelosi to make it acceptable. Blustering, throwing tantrums and then caving is the way Trump handles all negotiations. That is how our “Art of the deal” master went bankrupt so many times and that is how he is destroying our standing in the world. The only thing he seems to know how to do in international relations is run a money laundering operation for foreign oligarchs.
10
@IndependentVoter
"He has supported the UK in their desire to leave the EU."
Yet, when Barack Obama mildly advised the UK to remain in the EU - on a single occasion - it was shouted down, on both sides of the Atlantic as 'intolerable interference'.
Trump wasn't even President when the UK decided to leave. We certainly don't need his 'support' to do so.
1
@IndependentVoter I amstounded that you believe your statements. Let's take them one at a time. He has done more to weaken Nato and drive a wedge between the U.S. and European nations. He now wants the U.S. to back him agains North Korea. The question is why should they when they know he has no strategy and he could turn on them at any moment to impose tarrifs on European car imports or something equally stupid. The real message when the mocked him was that think he is selfabsorbed idiot who they have to pretend to put up with when he shows up at summit meetings. Trump did indeed extort Mexico into helping institute the gratuitiously cruel white nationalist immigration policies. While regugees will suffer they will not stop coming because their alternative is death. Trump has caved at key moments often enought that chinese hardliners knew he would do the same on trade. With no real strategy Trump's fumbling on trade with China has gained us nothing on the important issues like theft of intellectual property all at significant cost to the U.S. economy. The U.K. was slow to join the E.U. because of pride. They joined when the realized they had to to save their economy. They will be forced to join again when they realize they are isolated from the rest of the world. Trump really did nothing either way. Russian interference in the Brexit referendum did much more.
@JS
He shamed the NATO member nations into paying a greater share of the costs of the organization.
He got Mexico to help in curbing illegal immigration.
He has confronted China in running over us where no one else has ever had the courage to do so.
He has supported the UK in their desire to leave the EU.
Unfortunately the media hides these successes.
2
No amount of negotiating will ever cause the North Koreans to give up their nuclear program. Past experience with the USA by Qaddafi in Libya proves the point.
Qaddafi gave up his nuclear program. And when he went to put down a domestic uprising, the United States (Obama and Hillary) decided that they were going to protect the rebels. Well, the protection turned out to be air cover that tilted the table to allow the "rebels" to win. Qaddafi had to hide in a sewer pipe, and when caught by the rebels, was brutally killed.
And the "rebels" turned out to be worse than Qaddafi. There is no need to repeat the full story.
If Qaddafi had retained some nuclear capability, we would not have taken military action against him. But he had no such capability any more, so the USA felt free.
Don't think that any of this was lost on Kim, or any other international despot. Would a sea urchin voluntarily shed its spines? Not one that wanted to survive.
5
@RM: Don't let the fact that Qaddafi's militia of foreigners were expected to cause a vast boat-lift of Libyans to Europe complicate your strategic thinking.
Another day in the obvious unfolding disastrous fact of the Trump presidency, and how a third of the country refuses to see, or are incapable of seeing, what is happening. From the day of his golden escalator debut, his has been a fool's errand in every category. He gave the filthy rich a big payday, gutted long standing environmental regulations, and put two neo-conservatives on the SCOTUS. That summarizes his presidency. After three years of chaos the rest of the world is picking up the pieces. With McConnell and his lock-step Republican Senate who have turned over their souls to him, we can only hope and pray as we mourn. We have no other choice.
4
@Oisin You left out that he has driven unemployment to the lowest level in 50 years. The third of the country that you reference have had stagnant wages for decades and unrelenting competition from legal and illegal immigrants. Stop being so condescending towards your neglected fellow citizens!
It was obvious from the beginning of the disingenuous Trump/Kim bromance that the U.S. was being played. Kim was flattering Trump so he could get meetings and legitimacy, in exchange for nothing.
Trump failed and it’s no surprise to any sentient person.
6
If Trump's diplomacy "failed" just because North Korea is testing missiles again, Obama diplomacy was much bigger failure. North Korea was shooting missiles over Japan at will during Obama presidency and Obama couldn't do anything about it.
2
This is sort of like putting a top research scientist on par with a seven year old, because neither cured cancer.
"But Obama..."isn't an excuse that makes the horror of watching an American president trade love letters with one of the world's most brutal dictators more palatable.
Trump degraded our nation and praised a mass murderer, for nothing. To excuse that is to abandon decency and self-respect.
3
@Asian man
NK has been doing making some type of military incursion for decades. Obama didn't take the "bait." Trump isn't as smart.
Oh, stop. Dealing with the North Korean family business has never been easy for any administration. One might easily say that any administration's efforts "fizzled" for the past 50 years.
1
This foreign policy disaster is emblematic of how Trump’s naïveté, bluster, and incompetence as a deal-maker inevitably lead to failure. First he threatened Kim with fire and fury. Then Trump agreed to meet with him without any preconditions, thereby giving Kim one of the things he wanted most—a face-to-face meeting with a US president— without getting anything in return. After signing a vaguely worded agreement, Trump absurdly declared that the nuclear threat from North Korea was over and that we could “sleep well.” All the while, Kim moved ahead with developing long range missiles that will pose a real threat to the United States.
According to the article, Trump had said if he’s proven wrong about Kim’s sincerity in wanting to de-nuclearize he’ll admit he was wrong. I’m not holding my breath.
3
I remember it clearly agent orange in a long coat, long red tie ambling across the White House grass toward reporter with that somnolent way of his, off hand stating "we no longer had to worry about North Korea," his administration had met with them and all was good, no more nuclear testing worries. Here in lies the great danger of this administration, the ability to speak non-truths about a world that is evermore dangerous, because to HIM the sound bit is more important than anything else.
5
Quick: name one president whose diplomacy didn’t fizzle.
3
@EGD
The thing is, with Trump there is no such thing as "diplomacy" not only because he's temperamentally incapable of it, but because he has no Foreign Policy and there's no State Department able to carry it out.
3
@EGD ...Well, when Obama was President Iran agreed to stop their nuclear program and was in compliance when the stable genius Trump stomped all over it.
@EGD: Lincoln. Alaska was a steal.
Just another in a long list of Trump's unfulfilled promises.
4
Apparently all it takes is a "love letter" to our own Dear Leader and then you can do whatever you like. If only half the diplomatic effort expended on Ukraine had been spent on North Korea, things might have been different today. A success with North Korea definitely would have helped Trump's re-election efforts far more than what we have today.
2
Criminal trump has no policy toward North Korea, unless you think shaking hands is a new type of international commitment.
2
@Rsq: Evidently Kim didn't take to golf.
Thanks Mr. President. You tried your best to do something that couldn’t be done by anyone.
1
Trump did something few others tried, with a regime that remains one of the world's most dangerous. Mocking him and stating in headline that his attempt "fizzled" is, I am sorry to say, beneath this paper, and just smacks of hyperpartisan score keeping. One of the few things he did right to keep the world safe should be met with accolades, not scorn
3
@joey8 ...Well what are you supposed to say when the attempt fizzled? Stand up and cheer and declare it was a grand success?
3
@joey8
The only thing Trump did was to give Kim a standing in the world that Kim wanted and did not deserve.
3
Now Trump's so-called diplomacy will have to focus on returning to square one with China to make sure they keep their junkyard dog leashed.
The bright side for Trump is that his friends in the Military Industrial Complex will see this as an important step in the Arms Race that Putin has worked out with Trump over the past three years.
Notice that pushing for increases in NATO military budgets did NOT lead to a reduction in US military spending.
And what has Trump done to set the tone?
Tearing up treaties
Testing formerly-banned missiles
Establishing a new military branch
Removing military restraint concerned with limiting collateral damage
Promoting the views of murderous dictators
Convincing the World that we are no longer a reliable ally
5
Of course they are going to proceed with the test. When will there be another time that a US President hands them a "victory" for nothing in exchange? It makes NK look strong and the US weak.
NK is an embarrassment, and the GOP let them bring us down to their level and lose.
2
The president of the United States held two "summits" with North Korea's leader. The summits were actually stunts to get Trump massive, world-wide press coverage. Trump had previously threatened, insulted and demeaned Kim, but changed his tune and gifted Kim with international relevance in order to benefit from the attention the summits garnered.
Trump did exactly the same thing with the Parkland school shootings. The students' activism started dominating the news, so Trump invited them for a White House visit to get the attention back on him.
Donald Trump's interest in North Korea is the same as his interest in any topic: How can he make it about himself? Three years of this quest for ratings is starting to rack up consequences, as it must. America, in its wisdom, elected an amoral, vain, narcissistic bully to be their leader. Trump lives in his own delusional world, rarely interacting with reality directly. It's all rallies, sycophants and Fox News. America, and likely much of the rest of the world, may pay dearly for elevating this dangerous fool to power.
4
Read the Pulitzer-winning book The Orphan Master's Son for a truly shocking, gruesome and accurate depiction of what it's like to live in the bizarro cult world of Kim Jong Un.
Then recall that while Trump was busy slagging women, Democrats, law enforcement, prosecutors and immigrants, he was saying that he and Kim Jong Un "fell in love."
This was no surprise, given the love Trump has shown for Putin, Duterte, Erdogan, Bolsonaro, MBS, and other dangerous despots.
Trump's lack of intelligence and wise judgment has made the world a much more dangerous place.
5
Is the love affair over? Weren't they trading letters with each other?
Either way, trump got played. Again.
8
It should be clear to any American citizen how dangerous it is to have as president an individual such as Trump, obsessed with self and totally dependent on flattery which, in turn, feeds the obsession of self to make it worse, ie, addiction. As president, Trump is a risk to national security and world peace. How can it be more clear? And the fundamental reason? Immaturity ... an unruly, self-absorbed child unable to grow up, but is so easy to manipulate. The civil divide this nation now suffers, along with impeachment that became necessary for at least the sake of accountability, have made the matter of national instability far more favorable for adversaries to exploit than otherwise.
And in terms of “Christmas gift” Kim mentions to mock: He probably has it mostly right ... the sham that many Americans have made of Christmas, the Mass to celebrate Christ, as well the meaning of what gift is. We are being insulted, and most don’t even realize it. But the economy is good!
2
Dealing with an insane dictator is not easy. At least President Trump reached out and tried to talk some sense into the N. Korean leader. If/when the time comes to act with military force, no one can make the claim that the US did not try to address the situation peacefully. N. Korea and the entire world have seen just how irrational Mr. Kim is, and President Trump has done his part to expose this and to try to de-escalate the situation.
@G G
All Trump did was to give Kim standing on the world stage. That's something that Kim has wanted for a long time. And who does that benefit? The only one it benefits? Kim. Certainly not the U.S. or the world.
2
@G G ...."Dealing with an insane dictator is not easy....To whom do you refer?
It takes an insane dictator to know one...and support one I’m sure
Trump's diplomacy? Now there is an oxymoron...
6
Sure glad Trump has a great relationship with Kim. Kim probably gave up his country's aspirations and family's ambitions so he could win Trump's friendship.
I wonder if Putin is having a dog leash measured.
3
The failure to build a meaningful diplomatic relationship with N. Korea is of course not unique to Trump. What is distinctive though is the laudatory praise our national leader bestows on despots and dictators while insulting our closest allies. European leaders see Trump for the fool he is. Kim got from Trump all he could and now casts him aside, love letters and all. The GOP couldn’t care less. Trade war with China? Iran with a nuclear weapon? This is just one more failure from the White House that they’ll rationalize, blame on others, or outright deny. Who needs effective foreign policy strategies when you’ve got big crowds at MAGA rallies?
237
@PeterKa
What did Kim get from Trump besides a chance to talk? Maximum Pressure a gift but Strategic Patience is something that hurts him? You live in Bizzarro World or the Real One? Obama said he was not going to do anything except twiddle his thumbs and kick a can. Trump tried to talk and put on a Maximum Pressure Campaign. You seem to think Obama's approach was the better one.
@PeterKa
The crowds aren't that big. North Carolina had about 7,000 people after venue limits. To give you an idea: Bonnaroo, a trendy music festival in Tennessee, regularly hits around 65,000. Even the New York Jets, arguably the worst team in the NFL, averages close to 80,000 fans in attendance per home game.
Trump had an attendance of about 1.4 million spread across over 300 rallies in 2016. That's an average attendance under 5,000. He's losing to the Jets. He's losing to the Jets in multiples exceeding ten. Just think about that one for a minute. We're talking about the team where fans are more liable to injure their own players than anyone else. Trump is losing to that stadium.
14
@GregP: "You seem to think Obama's approach was the better one."
As the article points out, the Trump administration is now doing what each of the previous four administrations did.
But that only happened after Trump badmouthed the policies of previous administrations and claimed he was the "only one" who could solve the North Korea problem. On June 13, 2017, Trump even tweeted: "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea,” and for months after the Singapore summit he continued declaring that "total denuclearization" was occurring.
The net result of all this? After three years of Trump, the entire world knows that he's all hot air and incapable of serious negotiation.
27
The US was obsessed with shutting down Iran's nuclear program, even though the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA), had stated that Iran was in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (JCPOA). The US has recently announced even more crippling sanctions on Iran.
Meanwhile, the North Koreans are quietly perfecting their arsenal of nuclear weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver those weapons on target.
Still, the Trump Administration seems to believe that the "love letters" exchanged between Kim Il Jong and Trump will prevent a nuclear exchange between North Korea and the US.
It's a faith-based assumption that I do not share.
17
@Jim K.
Well, at least Trump did make an effort and the NK launch has not yet happened. It may, but Obama just ignored NK and pretended it was not there.
1
@Mark Shyres
Every POTUS since Eisenhower has basically ignored or pretended that the Korean issue did not exist.
Taking a shot at President Obama is a typical right-wing response to any criticism of President Trump. Time to give that tired and worn-out tactic a rest.
3
@Mark Shyres ...That is not true. Perhaps you never heard of TPP. But to explain it someone would have have to be willing to listen for 5 minutes.
3
For over four decades North Korea has either preserved or developed more nuclear weapons. This has been their main tool of defense, with the outside world. Using it as a way to threaten the neighboring countries, the US and others. NK sees that as their strength. That being the case, why would NK want to give up on their nuclear arsenals or their future programs?
The way to deal with NK is to confront them as a group. This is not just a US problem. NK has always been a threat to the region and to the world. To counter that threat, the US can provide the leadership. To do that, the US must not act alone. Instead, bring in all concerned and related parties - China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, even Russia to the negotiating table.
Mr. Trump may have the best of intentions. To deal with a nuclear rogue country like NK, cannot be done on pure personal instincts. This is not like dealing with a political opponent at home.
Mr. Trump must listen to counsel, and work with our allies to address the growing threat from North Korea.
2
@CITIZEN - Unfortunately, he won't.
4
@CITIZEN: When Japan invades Asia or Asia invades Japan, it is generally through the Korean Peninsula.
1
@CITIZEN
That's incredibly optimistic. Trump doesn't listen to anyone. Never has. Never will. He operates entirely on his "gut feelings" and only responds to "love letters."
2
It was always obvious that Kim had been leading Trump by the nose, with Trump willingly going along in exchange for love letters and the self-deceiving belief that he was actually establishing some sort of personal rapport (as he consistently does with tyrants) to perhaps win his Nobel Peace prize.
To be fair there are few easy, good solutions, but there was a time when NK was very vulnerable, when their test site collapsed, after which they hurried to the negotiating table with misleading claims of ending or reducing their testing in the name of peace (when it was because they were forced to).
Trump eagerly swallowed the whole thing, believing his own ego, thus undermining himself, when he might actually have scored a real win since the collapse of the site had resulted from the escalation of tests and words.(thankfully hurting no one at the time).
Instead he gave Kim the time to rebuild and restart his tests.
Of course, there was really little the US or South Korea could do militarily, as long as China (and probably Russia) have their interests in propping up NK. But perhaps they could have insisted on actual inspections, as with Iran, and at least control or conduct closer surveillance.
26
If NK does launch an IBM, it will indeed be a great Christmas gift to the US, i.e. it will give the Dems a very powerful talking point about Trump's failed presidency, and why we he should be voted out of office.
39
@Paul-A
No, Paul. It will point to the failure of 25 or 30 years of policy. They didn't start these program on Trump's watch.
It will give the US something to talk about in terms of formulating a policy going forward. Do you think the Dems will do well on this? Containment or confrontation?
11
@Paul-A: Kim will get the US to spend $5 trillion on anti-missile defense weapons.
2
Except no other president has fawned over, given cover to, and normalized North Korea like Trump. This is HIS mess now.
4
"U.S. Braces for Major North Korean Weapons Test as Trump’s Diplomacy Fizzles"
This is obviously a manifestation of North Korea's lack of trust in Mr. Trump and his administration. In fact, with few exceptions, there is no country in the world today that would take seriously any commitment made by Mr. Trump or his administration.
The US lost its credibility by unilaterally abandoning the Iran nuclear agreement; an international agreement to which the US and five other countries were a signatory. The North Koreans saw that and figured that the best that they can get from Trump administration, after years of tough negotiations, would be another agreement. But, demonstrably, such an agreement means nothing, since Mr. Trump would abandon it the minute he feels the agreement does not serve his interest, bet it politically or financially.
The Chinese have a saying: "Keeping a good reputation is as essential as bark is to a tree". Without its bark not only a tree is vulnerable to its enemies, but it is doomed to perish.
The Koreans see Mr. Trump as the architect of the US lassitude, if not its demise. Hence, they are suddenly not in a hurry to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. They seem to be waiting to negotiate with a US that has become more isolated and, therefore, weaker and desperate to pacify them by making tangible, irreversible, concessions to them.
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@Eddie B.
Per a recent interview with John Bolton on NPR, NK will never give up the nuclear pursuit. They have been playing everyone for 30 years.
2
@Eddie B.
"This is obviously a manifestation of North Korea's lack of trust in Mr. Trump and his administration."
Do you seriously believe that the North would trust any US Administration? Look at the past 65 years or so and report back.
@Eddie B.: China established North Korea.
I am by no means a Trump supporter. But, if, by chance, his "negotiations" with North Korea were to bear some fruit, wouldn't that be a good thing? Things have been pretty quiet on the Korean peninsula for the last three years. President Obama's essential (general) foreign policy program was to sit on his hands. Specifically, he DID admit that he was "kicking the can down the road" on North Korea. All of the snark in many of the comments here belie the fact that, at some point, some U.S. President is going to have to finally face the end of our dilemma vis-a-vis North Korea; be it war or peace.
7
@Joanna Whitmire
Obama's approach was essentially a continuation of the policies of previous administrations. The fact is that it was obvious to Obama that a policy failure regarding nuclear weapons was on the horizon with the respect to North Korea. It did not begin on his watch and its manifestation would not occur on his watch.
The options were limited then and are more constrained now.
10
@Joanna Whitmire
Obana is gone however,
"Not only did he fail to achieve his promise of a no-nukes deal with Kim but he also unilaterally (unless you consider Putin's pressure) gave up our military exercises with South Korea. Not only that but our strong relationship with South Korea is in tatters. "
2
If they’re more constrained now, it’s entirely because trump’s whiled away the sunlit hours attacking our allies and alliances in the region, made Kim look good, and fumfuhed around the world as the North built more missiles and stockpiled more nukes.
1
"the Trump administration will turn to allies" which of our alienated allies are going to sign on to efforts led by a "leader" for whom they have zero respect and confidence? And who among Trumps true allies (think Putin) are going prop him up?
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@NotSoCrazy
Our "allies" will do what they have always done. Stand with us when it suits them and go their own way when it doesn't. Trumps blustering and threats won't have any more effect than Obamas cowtowing to the euros did. They are in it for themselves just like we should be.
Good points! About the only “allies” the US has now are Russia (good buddy Putin), which of course has little interest in confronting NK, any more than China does. Oh, and maybe a handful of countries with dictators for leaders that would offer little in the way of military, diplomatic, or economic support.
Trump’s egotistical and uninformed approach has seemingly brought America (and South Korea and Japan) closer to armed attack or confrontation than in a long while.
We should take these failures seriously: it should be clear even to the Trump base that a nuclear attack on American shores will affect them, too. Only the evangelicals, Pence and Barr among them, will welcome this as the Rapture they all want and believe in.
The Trump family, at least, won’t be able to build hotels over there; probably needless to say, they would never come to the aid of America.
3
@Al "Our "allies" will do what they have always done. Stand with us when it suits them and go their own way when it doesn't. " Not how I remember post 911 afganistann, Our based on lies war in Iraq. Maybe you can enlighten me. When, where, and who? How has what you described ever happened? (Graduate of social media university?)
The President of the USA walked out of talks and followed that up by calling Kim on the phone and crawling on his belly to shake his hand in North Korea.
He did the same thing with the Chinese in the trade war. He walks out of a deal with the Chinese threatening American consumers with huge increases in products we love like Apple phones and calls Xi. He reduces the tariffs he threatened to impose on US consumers in exchange for nothing.
Trump thinks of himself as a great negotiator because he has always negotiated deals with himself.
40
@HL: Trump never did deals with people who see right through him.
2
Scant mention of the South Korean angle in this piece. The Trump administration was successful last year in getting South Korea to pay more to have U.S. troops stationed in Korea. The bill comes to about 900 million per year. This year the Trump administration asked for five billion an almost 400 percent increase without much rationale behind it besides the fact that South Korea is a rich country.
It’s debatable weather or not the South should pay that much but it seems foolish to antagonize the primary ally in the region which has the most to lose if a war should happen. The current administration in Korea is of the opinion that the U.S. should ease sanctions as North Korea draws down its weapons in order to build trust. The U.S. has maintained an all or nothing position for a long time. I personally have no preference, the North is unwilling to follow the U.S.’s demands, and the U.S. has every right to have the upmost skepticism with everything said by the North. Yet the U.S. demand for a 400% increase in defense spending from South Korea, gives the South motivation for pushing stronger for the gradual option. Moon could say, “You can have your money after you make a nuclear deal.” If South Korea pays the fee it could send a sign to that the North of how committed the South is to the alliance and give the North a propaganda issue. Hopefully there will be a day when the U.S. is a reliable ally again.
5
@Fred
Thank you for your message from the frontlines. It brings greater insight to this discussion. The South has a lot of fine lines to walk here with the US and the North. The last sentence sums it up.
Best to you and yours this holiday season.
2
@Fred: Oh what a peril it is to the world that everyone wants to be a pixel in a mass display of adulation of Kim Jong Un.
This is just wonderful. The greatest! The stable genius has managed to bring us to the point where we have a similarly unstable leader who now is rapidly approaching having the ability to deliver nuclear weapons to the US mainland. How much better we can sleep with Trump in office.
18
North Korea is just the latest foreign relations failure for Donald Trump. If we learned anything from the Cold War with the Soviet Union, it is that the goal of complete denucleariztion never worked. What does work is containment and a gradual step-by-step reduction in nuclear armaments. Patience is a trait that Trump lacks. He wants a big splashy Reality TV event like the "Mission Accomplished" fiasco of the George W. Bush Iraq War event. North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons, but it may be willing to gradually reduce them to a level where they pose only a regional threat. That takes diplomacy on the level of Acheson, Kennan, Shultz, and Kerry. With a now hollowed out State Department sublet to Rudy Giuliani, that will take a new administration to achieve peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
16
The words, "Trump" and "Diplomacy" do not belong in the same universe, much less the same headline. Made-for-reality-TV moments are not diplomacy.
18
This is a particularly dangerous time for our country. Trump is desperate to turn our attention away from his impeachment, and would welcome the chance to appear "presidential" in the run up to 2020. Living on the West Coast, I feel especially vulnerable to Trump's instability and whims. His wanting to prove he's a tough guy could get me and millions of others blown to smithereens. If Congress won't get rid of him, I'll do my part next November. As long as he's in office, I don't think I can feel truly safe.
15
What Trump has been doing is not nor will it ever be diplomacy. It's PR he thinks will get him a Nobel, nothing more. It's all about the "Emmy" for him, nothing else.
13
Not only did he fail to achieve his promise of a no-nukes deal with Kim but he also unilaterally (unless you consider Putin's pressure) gave up our military exercises with South Korea. Not only that but our strong relationship with South Korea is in tatters.
As soon as we learn that this test has occurred Speaker Pelosi should announce an investigation into "Trump administration diplomacy failures." If for no other reason than to push his hot-buttons.
7
Donald J. Trump: Giving autocratic leaders everything they want including missile tests. The great negotiator could not negotiate a transaction correctly at a kids' lemonade stand. Failure at his businesses, failure at all foreign policy unless you are Vlad Putin, failure at keeping his promises, failure at any and all immigration reform, failure at his tariffs, giving more bailouts to the farmers than the bailouts of the automotive industry, failure to protect our national interests, failure to tell any truths whatsoever and last but not least, he is impeached. What a great legacy he will leave.
25
It seems to me that our policy, past and present, is misguided. North Korea is, perhaps justifiably, paranoid. Its nuclear capability is defensive. And, it has allowed them to sit on the world stage. Why do we think that they will ever give it up? At the same time, it is impossible to think that they would launch an unprovoked attack on the US or even Japan which would surely end in their total destruction. The real danger is from a misstep or that they would be forced to sell their technology to a rogue state or terrorist organization because their economy was so crippled by sanctions. Better to accept that they have nuclear weapons and negotiate an effective monitoring and control protocol, with full transparency. Independent verification would simultaneously put the world on notice that they have the capability to defend themselves while also ensuring that such capability will not be misused.
9
@Peter ..."Why do we think that they will ever give it up?"...North Korea will give up nuclear weapons when it is in China's best interest.
1
The 'stable genius' who claims to know more than any general, diplomat or professor of international relations has failed yet again to grasp every nuance of international diplomacy with North Korea. Like Putin, Kim Jong-un has played Trump like a puppet, and this is the result. For the sake of world peace, Trump has to go — immediately.
15
Trump and diplomacy are mutually exclusive.
8
at this point, it's become glaringly obvious that all of trumps' diplomatic efforts have failed. he's made this country a global laughingstock as he himself has become an international pariah. the country has been left in a state of chaos and weakness that it will take a generation or more to recover from.
13
If ever there was an example of Trump's fundamental inadequacy as a commander in chief and president, this is it. As one observer described it, his "weightless, gaseous psyche" is an unsurprising liability for the U.S. I am afraid for our broken nation.
10
The power vacuum created by America’s first reality TV President is immense. It has made an unsafe world less stable by putting a rogue regime on stage with Donald Trump, elevating their dictator and lowing the office of President to a level where the best chance for global stability is in the hands of Russia and China. Looks like the KGB strategy was a big win.
Kim is smiling as people starve there blaming Presidents and glad that he has no opposition to call him on his corruption. The only difference here is our TV Personality leader smiles that it’s always someone else’s fault.
7
Let's face it, Trump has zero negotiating skills, and is out classed and out played with every encounter he's had with North Korea.
For goodness' sake, he can barely speak the English language (Trump, not Kim) with 'perfect' and 'amazing' being uttered so often as to make one cringe when he hears him speak.
Kim is up to no good. I do not want this and neither do even some moderate hawks I know, but Trump will need his hands duct taped to his sides when the incoming missile lands a few hundred miles off US shores. That will be a time for supreme wisdom and confidence rather than an "I'll show you" response that so many of us fear.
7
Oh well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Trump took a bold gamble for peace, and it appears to have failed. But it was worthwhile nonetheless.
1. It demonstrates that North Korea will never give up its nuclear weapons. Not with sanctions, not with bribery, and not with negotiations. The U.S., South Korea, Japan, China, and the entire world can now accept that nuclear non-proliferation has failed in North Korea, and probably eventually across the world.
2. It demonstrates that the U.S. really wanted peace and therefore undermines North Korean propaganda to the contrary.
3. We can now move along a strategic path that recognizes 1. and 2.
a. A continued military presence in South Korea, sanctions, regime subterfuge, etc.
b. Eventually South Korea, Japan, and perhaps others acquiring nuclear weapons of their own.
c. FINALLY move the U.S. to rapidly build its EMP defenses, because at some point North Korea will be tempted to launch an EMP attack as a last ditch effort to break out of its corner.
d. Strengthen efforts to block any North Korea exports of nuclear/ballistic weapons and technology.
Perhaps there will be a last-minute breakthrough, though probably not.
We should at least be thankful to Trump for extending an olive branch, even if the North Koreans eventually used it as firewood.
11
@John
It is the latest and probably last in a set of policies that date back at least 25 years to stop the North's drive to nuclear weapons and the means to deliver these weapons.
The US position in South Asia managed to maintain peace for the last 65 years. The options are limited going-forward--living with it or knocking it. We are going to see a military build up by Japan.
6
@John
Too simple. Didn't you read that our allies in the area, Japan & South Korea are in China talking to them? Why? Because tRump jacked up the demands on them to pay for their defense which is in our best interest. OK, Republican talking point: they have to pay more, I can buy that, but they agreed to pay more and yet tRump is demanding as much as 400% above the actual costs - why?
Was the original point to paint Obama weak? Maybe, but he talked to Putin in the meantime and look where we now are - again he does Putin's bidding and the US is dramatically weakened!
8
@John Thankful for what? And that olive branch was from the guy who said he had the bigger button.
5
Kissinger and Nixon used a triangularization strategy to leverage an entry to China to weaken the Soviet Union and get a minimally acceptable peace in Vietnam. (One that allowed us to get out.)
Based on recent Russian and Chinese behavior such a plan seems to be a non-starter. Why? What other options are raised given the current set of facts?
What has been fundamentally lacking is a gathering of minds that can develop a strategy. Until we have some kind of strategic base from which to operate, we will bounce along from crisis to crisis, from face to face and from quid to quo. Dealing is not a strategy. Luxury hotels are not a strategy.
10
Further proof that "love letters" and real negotiation are entirely different things. One more failure for the Don.
81
@jimlve
Or proof that our so-called president can do neither effectively.
7
Add it to the list
Someone needs to tell Trump that sanctions are a declaration of war, not a peaceful way to settle disputes, and they don't work in the end. History shows they only bolster the opposition forces in power and weaken civilian resistance.
If Trump was serious, he would have signed a treaty ending the Korean War, that has been over for almost 70 years, instead of trying to twist the meaning of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula into a declaration of surrender by the North.
16
@Dino Reno I think Trump already gave away enough to North Korea by personal meeting with Kim "the great leader".
He provided more prestige and attention than that country merits and got nothing in return.
1
@Reader
Trump doesn't negotiate meaningfully with any of his adversaries. He only negotiates with himself in public. In the end, he always ends up in the same place where he started.
1
@Dino Reno
How long have the sanctions been in place?
Trump's "outreach" has been nothing but photo ops - with all of the same Obama era sanctions in place. Trump has stated he has no intention removing them or compromising, which is consistent with the fact that threats, sanctions, and tariffs are Trump’s bread and butter in deal-making. Consequently, from the jump, the entire process has had a Bloomberg's chance in Iowa of actually succeeding. Now, on 12/18/19, Republican Senator Toomey has said that the best chance of changing the path North Korea is on is with even more “crippling sanctions” because, “The current sanctions regime is not enough.” Clearly, there’s no attempt by Trump and the Republicans to “give peace a chance for a change.” And it’s not a good look for the future, regardless of how it looks re: the 2020 elections.
36
There is a difference between diplomacy and deal-making. In the case of North Korea our president and his staff have failed in both to the detriment of the Korean peninsula, southeast Asia, and the world.
62
@vm
What do you seriously think diplomacy or deal can realistically accomplish on the Peninsula?
The fact is that we are on the precipice of a new era. The US policy toward in this region has enjoyed over 65 years of peace. How many administrations have tried to contain the nuclear impasse that has been building? Hint--it goes back 25 years at least.
We now have a nuclear North that may have the capacity to deliver a weapon to the US mainland.
The fact is that negotiations are the cheapest means of containment at this point until either the US and its allies decide to live with the threat or end it militarily.
12
@Sendero Caribe We will probably have to learn to live with the threat. But, with an UNSTABLE "genius" in the WH, who knows. His nasty impulses must be controlled.
His "foreign policy" is an across the board failure.
@Sendero Caribe
I’m not seeing how you and vm disagree.
Consider the fact that North Korea has never built a weapon it was not prepared to sell — now that's something really scary.
80
@Ag How often do you hear trump crowing about arms deals? How many billions in arms do we sell each year? The truth is that we, the USA have only placed a few of our weapons on the do-not-proliferate list.
4
consider the fact that the US sells weapons of mass destruction all over the world.
Pres. Donald Trump did not listen to Pres. Obama that North Korea would be present a problem but oh no. Pres. Donald Trump try twice to negotiate a deal with North Korea and bring peace North Korea it was all in vain. You can never negotiate a deal with a mad man that killed his brother his uncle his fellow countrymen. But try to tell Pres. Donald Trump that.
One thing you should not forget that North Korea is supported by Russia and China what ever North Korea does it response from both countries are the same. If you think one thing the missile program from North Korea is designed from the Chinese, and also Russia I hope they can try to bring this madman to the table before he starts another war. How can you trust both countries let this dictator threatens the West is a dangerous recipe for China and Russia.
36
@Rick Johnson
I'm sorry but Obama did absolutely nothing to control NK. Obama is the one who basically created the problem that trump is trying to deal with.
2
@bored critic
The problem in NK started long before Obama was in office--Bush, Clinton and Bush has the same difficult issues. In each case, NK was not trying to negotiate with the US in any meaningful way. And won't change that policy with Trump or his successor.
7
@Rick Johnson
So Trump should have continued Obama's policy of Strategic Patience? Obama kicked the can down the road and you criticize Trump? Priceless.
Maybe trump should call Ukraine or some other countries and talk to their leaders about withholding aid unless they help influence Kim Jong Un.
I don’t think trump could successfully negotiate himself out of a recyclable paper bag without help, and that can only be obtained with threats.
Cheater! You’ll get us all killed someday.
153
To be fair, the loser is allergic to recyclable and eco-friendly products. At least that would explain why he is so zealously eager NOT to support non-lethal energy and keep our oil and gas IN THE GROUND, where it belongs if we'd rather NOT fry ourselves to death.
But yeah, if he weren't, he'd STILL be bagged for good.
4
@Steve Ell,
I burst out laughing. Good one buddy.
4
Trump’s “diplomacy” was quite a show, a side show, that will garner no Nobel prizes, little high praise save for his adoring masses, and historians will write how a person 30 years younger than Trump played him like an old banjo.
Trump and his mouthpieces, along with his supporters, kept their bleating and braying at a fever pitch in making sure we knew that previous administrations have never met Kim face to face and he, the grand negotiator, will accomplish more than those previous presidents, meaning Obama.
Well, perhaps those previous administrations knew it was fruitless to negotiate with Kim and all they would do was the only thing Trump accomplished-give legitimacy to Kim.
So, I congratulate Trump on a job well done. You managed to cower before, be played by. and give legitimacy to Kim.
344
@Dan
North and South Korea are united by their penchant for selecting corrupt family grifters for leaders backed up by arms, finance and diplomacy supplied by competing foreign superpowers.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Republic of Korea are models that the Trump Organization is hoping to imitate from their occupation of the White House.
4
@Dan
Trump gave Kim a photo and nothing else. He wasn't played. He wanted to see if Kim would bite the economic apple but Kim wants a future of apples not just one.
@Dan well said - Christmas fast approaches and Kim promised DJ a surprise; so we all are dragged under with the insanity of two unstable vindictive leaders.
6
“The president even offered to help build hotels along North Korea’s east coast.”
That in a nutshell is the Trump foreign policy: “Hotels For Peace”.
Right out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel.
439
And right into his pocket, which is the basis for every, single action in his life.
37
@GW Monty Python might be more accurate, less thinking required.
13
@Swannie No, this administration really feels as dire as WWII survivor Vonnegut, and not the least bit like the Ministry of Silly Walks.
[Vonnegut was then deployed to Europe to fight in World War II and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was interned in Dresden and survived the Allied bombing of the city by taking refuge in a meat locker of the slaughterhouse where he was imprisoned.] Wikipedia
3
I hope that no one is surprised here. NK has controlled the narrative from the beginning and feckless Trump, the "Bully of America", who narcissism knows no bounds, has been manipulated by a master. The same goes for Saudi Arabia and every other leader that has faked fawning at Trump's feet.
It's all about personal loyalty to a mad man. Trump is no leader; he's a cheap crook seeking fake respect.
I do not at all favor NK or Kim, but for the United States to be so poorly represented by a fake, now-Impeached president is a disgrace to all of our diplomats, legitimate politicians and civil servants.
Instead of admiring and supporting great leaders, Trump denigrates them. Does that make Any sense other than overwhelming evidence that Trump is working for Moscow?
Our next administration, hopefully headed by a smart, honest human instead of this damaged child, will deal with Kim without being manipulated by him. Another reason to get rid of Trump before he forces a nuclear war.
261
@RealTRUTH That should become the new standard usage. Whenever trump is mentioned it should be noted that he is an "impeached-president."
10
@RealTRUTH
When an ostensibly professional athlete fails to perform, the first thing the coach does is to replace him/her with someone who can.
Welcome Trump and his Republican Congress. They won't even finish the season let alone win a game. Irresponsible oversight and executive performance will sink us. No trophies for Trump and his cult - they can take their football and go home.
10
""Obama is one of the worst negotiators on everything I've ever seen..." Trump, January 2016
At the same time hair-on-fire Republicans hammered home the messaging that Obama was "weak," letting foreign nations walk all over us.
Oh the irony. Oh, how so many of us wish we could go back to those "weak" days.
440
@LindaP The irony is too painful to face. But thank you for pointing it out nevertheless as it becomes clearer every day to most of us. I fear that with the McConnell led Republican Senate and the Barr Justice Dept. we cling to hope this Christmas. It's all we-the-majority have.
22
Trump and his surrogates around him would still deny reality, lie and advertise this as greatest diplomatic success the US ever had against North Korea. His party, Fox news, and core supporters will cheer on that as usual.
37
@Bonku
Very good. What insight into the issues related to the Koreas.
BTW, can you locate the Korean Peninsula on a map?
It is a disaster when Trump has one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders. Even Trump's closest aides have only a dim understanding of what went on, as Trump is incapable of giving a thorough, honest report even if he wanted to, which he does not. Trump views his meetings as a PR event, to show himself in glory as a great dealmaker. Trump made substantial concessions to Kim, without getting anything in return except for photo ops and statements that the world no longer is threatened by NK nukes, Trump deserves a Noble prize, and he and Kim are best buddies. Kim undoubtedly saw through Trump's buffoonery.
55
@Edward B
Every world leader, in fact everyone in the world knows of Trump's buffoonery. Everyone has his number and knows exactly how to play him. Just flatter him. Tell him how smart and brave and handsome and you have him eating out of your hand.
Make him think he's getting the better of you and he'll do anything for you.
Tell him he can build hotels all over your country for pennies and he'll sign anything and sing your praises. No matter what.
THIS is the most powerful leader in the world?
I hope there is a God because we need one.
2
Trump's diplomacy? That's an oxymoron. Trump is totally devoid of the knowledge and skill required to engage in diplomacy. He cannot find North Korea on a world map. Trump's concept of diplomacy is to sit in a room alone with a Kim, a Putin, an Erdogan, and think that exchanging pleasantries passes as diplomacy. The author of the Art of the Deal is neither artful nor an adroit dealer.
139
@nzierler : And, also, he isn't the author of The Art of the Deal. Tony Schwartz wrote that book, every word, after choosing to spend a year 'eavesdropping' on Trump's daily life and being forced to listen to Trump's word salad nonsense he's always spewed like a volcano that never stops flinging fire into the air. Tony feels guilty for that book that gave Trump, a very stupid thing, the cover of being wise and smart in business.
Trump is without a doubt the very worst dealmaker in the entire world. I fear for all of us in the coming year.
2
@nzierler Trump was incapable of writing the Art of the Deal--it was ghostwritten for him by Tony Schwartz.
1
It was always a photo op, and a way for him to look like he was doing something radical and different. He didn't care about the history or warnings. He gave the crazy young man status, and now a green light to continue. We're worse off because of it. But for Trump it's a win because his supporters think he masterfully played the world stage. The young man was right, Trump is a dotard.
132
Do we actually have any Allies left after all of Trump’s insults, not keeping our word regarding most of the agreements we entered into with them including, but not limited to, the Paris Accord.
Trump’s antics with North Korea are coming back to haunt him and us. He has put this Country in more danger than we have been in in a long time.
I remember learning in a Religious class in elementary school from the Nuns that the “yellow race shall rule”
It appears that this could happen
China is now second to us in the world regarding economics and long term planing. It won’t be long until they surpass us. Put that together with North Korea and other Asian countries makes me think that when push comes to shove they will come to believe that it is in their best interests to join China. They might be right.
17
@Jean
"Do we actually have any Allies left after all of Trump’s insults"
Boris, and Benjamin
3
What a commanding position Trump has put America and the world in.
Just shows how his negotiating and political skills are creating a safer world.
Make America Gravel Again.
21
@Dave
Did you mean grovel? I think either is correct.
Nuclear bombs have no use and will not save Kim. What Trump needs to do is to ignore Kim's tantrums, keep talking and praising, and try to persuade him to give up nuclear programs for immense prosperity.
2
Nuclear weapons are the ONLY thing keeping Kim alive. If he gave them up, even for total lifting of sanctions, his generals would kill him in a week. Remember how Gaddafi died?
This situation is unresolvable without enormous bloodshed. Trump literally has no idea what he's doing. He thinks photo ops are diplomatic progress.
2
@Alex K
Just having Nukes give a country leverage--plenty of it.
@Alex K
Trump is the one who has tantrums. Those tantrums have produced little but the world’s scorn and laughter.
1
If I were the leader of a nation hostile to the United States and wanted to get the upper hand in negotiations on a dangerous conflict I would use flattery to "seduce" Donald Trump into believing he was a masterful leader whom I admire. Knowing that basically he is a superficial TV personality who has no substance, I would use my guile to create an artifice that he is powerful and strong and that it is my privilege to be partnered with him in such a PERFECT way. Then I would fly to my home country feeling triumphant and sharing cocktails with my attachés, looking forward to gullible Americans delivering me another victory in the 2020 elections.
19
Kim will never give up his nuclear weapons. Negotiations from Clinton to Trump administration's have only allowed North Korea time to develop and perfect his weapons. Hopefully ongoing talks with the Seoul government about them paying for their defense will result in American troops leaving Korea and a peace treaty signed with the South. President Moon I believe desires a treaty with the North. With our exit from the South, Kim has no reason to threaten the US.
3
Kim wrote Trump a few flattering letters and Trump thought they were in love. All the while, Kim continued to develop intercontinental nuclear weapons. Trump is an extreme danger to our national security.
41
Trump is too oblivious to see that he is being played like a broken down old fiddle by every strong-man on the planet.
96
Even suggesting that DJ Twitler has diplomacy is a joke. What diplomacy? Given Trump's vindictive nature, coupled with his much-deserved impeachment sets everyone up to suffer the consequences of the tyrant. He will stop at nothing and his GOP comrades will not stop him. Should DJ escalate the fiasco that he created with North Korea into a war, the spineless GOP enablers will have the blood on their hands. The next year will undoubtedly be far worse than the first three. No one and nothing is off-limits for the stable genius.
30
Some legacy!
Beyond all the talk and deception and provocations and angry Tweets: what lasting impact has this president had? Are your lives markedly better, safer, more secure? I doubt it.
23
@Andre
Would they have been safer under a Clinton administration with respect to North Korea? Think about it. In terms of Iran, we would have stayed in the nuclear pact, so possibly, yes.
North Korea is no difference.
The world is a dangerous place.
@Sendero Caribe But Clinton wouldn't have given NK the legitimacy they sought with a photo op on their soil, at least not without concrete concessions.
3
@Sendero Caribe My point is that this presidency is about (ineffectual) image-making. forbidding immigration is not effective reform, nor did the dismantling of regulations or tax breaks improve industry (though the debt hangover will later be felt). Future American promises to allies will be mistrusted. The only serious work of this administration has been to take on China, which I applaud.
There was no chance Kim was going to give up his nukes even before Trump pulled out of the Iranian deal. He saw what happened to Gaddafi and Hussein. Kim may be a dictator but he isn't stupid. If the Korean situation was that easy to solve it would have happened twenty years ago.
17
Thank you, Mitch McConnell, beholden to the interests of your in-law/benefactors in the Chinese shipping business, for your service to other countries which are hostile to the United States. A special thanks for your vow to fail to allow removal a mentally unstable, bumbling tyrant from the presidency. I'm sure Kim appreciates the support as well.
201
@Fern
And thank you for pointing out that McConnell and his wife are compromised, almost certainly working on behalf of Chinese government and companies, with many covert sweetheart deals that "seemingly" violate ethics laws and other laws.
Given that McConnell is also defying the constitution and rule of law by openly stating that he will defy the oath of impartiality in the Trump trial, NYT and others should dig deep into the connections between Chao, McConnell, and China.
Anything that could help remove McConnell from the Senate would be almost as important as removing Grifter from the White House.
19
@Fern
Don't forget Vladimir! He's the happiest of them all.
13
The North Koreans would have to be crazy to give up their nuclear weapons. Most in the Democratic and Republican Parties are dedicated to regime change. China can't be trusted. Now that they have nuclear weapons, why would they give them up. Since we don't allow them to trade anything else, don't be surprised when they start selling A bombs. We've trapped them in a corner and we blame them for acting hostile.
13
What the article doesn’t mention is that Kim has the option of selling missile know-how, maybe parts, and the bombs themselves.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to see that to break the sanctions and get foreign currency he’d look to offer nuclear terrorism to any buyer, sensibly priced.
18
@F U Keith
You raise an exceedingly significant issue. Of the MANY "provocations" in North Korea's playbook, there are a couple which are truly nightmarish, and which NK is likely to use if necessary to get what it wants:
1. Insinuating that it will proliferate its WMD (including chemical and biological weapons) in order to raise cash and to offset economic sanctions;
2. Significantly ramping up asymmetrical warfare against SK, Japan and the US to convince the US to lift sanctions;
3. Begin to use Japan and Guam as "target practice" for its medium-range ballistic missiles. NK has already threatened to "bracket" Guam with missiles; and
4. Conduct a nuclear-tipped ICBM detonation in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.
At least when Neville Chamberlain declared “peace for our time” a year before the German invasion of Poland there had been diplomacy more substantial than elaborately staged photo-ops and ranty tweets. Magical thinking that a deal exists is no substitute for the real thing.
27
Yet another example of how our “great deal maker” has fallen short. Kim’s initial strategy of abject flattery was effective in appealing to Trump and making him think that they could strike a deal. After all, they were “in love”. But the standard combination we see in this administration of lack of planning and coordination, chaotic and contradictory staffing and messaging, over-confidence, inability to effectively work with other countries, and sheer incompetence has once again left us in a worse position than when this supposed diplomacy started.
622
@LHW
Not just "fallen short". He's significantly decreased our strength and ability to limit the harm North Korea can do to us and the world. In the process he's greatly decreased the world's respect for us and weakened our ability to effect outcomes around the world.
He's made things far worse.
452
@Mike Holloway
We should also mention that Iran is now on a path toward possessing nuclear weapons. They had been in compliance with the terms of the Iran Nuclear Deal until Trump pulled the US out of it. They complied for while after that, hoping that the other nations party to the pact could hold it together and provide Iran with benefits for its ailing economy. But the loss of the US was too much, and Iran publicly stated that they would violate the deal and set in motion the enrichment of Uranium to weapons grade. When Trump took office, both North Korea and Iran's nuclear programs were in check. Now, due to his bumbling foreign policy, they are both quickly moving toward becoming significant nuclear threats, with the capacity to reach the US mainland.
234
@LHW--All-in-all, trying diplomacy was worth it. If we somehow stumble into a war--a test missile lands on Tokyo by mistake--we have tried this. The road to war is littered with miscalculations.
It was as clear at the time as it is now that Kim was highly unlikely to give up his nuclear capability at any price. Nevertheless, the US gave it a try.
It is on North Korea and goofy generals taking copious notes with pencil and paper as Kim gives orders from the defensive position.
6
Trump's diplomacy has failed to produce results? I'm shocked, I tell you. Shocked.
389
@Kristin
It has produced results. Unfortunately, these results are not satisfactory toward our overall objectives. It takes two to negotiate and reach an agreement.
Diplomacy is low-cost and potentially has high payoffs.
The Administration should be rebuked for walking away from the Iran deal, not trying diplomacy with North Korea.
19
@Sendero Caribe
I've been waiting for rebukes to Trump for some time, now.
Where and from whom are they?
4
@Kristin
And yet half the country will die firmly believing he's done "amazing" things and saved us from North Korea.
1
Trump and “diplomacy” is an oxymoron. The more accurate title would be that “Trump’s pandering and flattery” failed.
485
@J.
What did Iran get out of it's nuclear weapons program deal with America plus China, France, Russia the United Kingdom and the European Union?
What did Saddam Hussein and Moammar Qaddafi get out of giving up their nuclear weapons programs?
North Korea has the 4th largest military on Earth. And more people per capita in a military uniform than any nation. North Korea is a royal autocracy posing as a Bolshevik state.
2
@J.
Absolutely correct J.
Why should Mr. Kim relinquish his nukes and ICBM's?
North Korea didn't invent and has never used either.
Unlike Israel, India and Pakistan, North Korea was once a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and had no nuclear weapons.
While America and Russia currently have 95% of the world's nukes.
Why are some nuclear weapons rogue nations more equal, forgiven and forgotten than others?
Why are some nations allowed to hold the balance of nuclear weapons Armageddon?
78
@Blackmamba
The reason, quite simply, is that North Korea has never needed nuclear weapons for self-defense. It needs them to extort economic concessions from South Korea and the US.
North Korea is not a real country, but a criminal enterprise masquerading as a nation. It is a mafia state with nuclear weapons which is holding South Korea (and very soon Japan) hostage to paying "protection money" in perpetuity.
Pakistan, India, Russia and China all have legitimate reasons to have nuclear weapons, and they are "real" countries compared to North Korea.
The reason that some nations are "more equal" than others is simply a matter of practicality. Russia and China are not in the same league as North Korea, and just because we tolerate Russian and Chinese nukes does not mean that we should also tolerate North Korean nukes.
16
@Blackmamba ...."Why are some nuclear weapons rogue nations more equal, forgiven and forgotten than others?"...Because some countries have never sold their nuclear technology?
@Gualtiero
There is no North nor South Korea.
They have the same ethnic sectarian historical heritage.
Korea was once part of the Japanese Empire.
The deadliest holocaust of World War II was 30 million Chinese killed by the Japanese Empire.
Korea was a political pawn divided by Cold War superpowers America, China and the Soviet Union.
Japan has more nuclear weapons grade nuclear material than any nation without nukes.
You are confusing North Korea and Iran with Israel.
1
American relations with North Korea are failing.
It is not "Trump's diplomacy" that is failing. What he tried would have worked.
We are not doing what he tried, outreach to North Korea. That has been swamped by the hostility to North Korea that dominates the DC Bubble.
War is the only answer that seems popular in DC.
It is not so popular in the rest of the country.
Thus, what Trump tried to do will be remembered as the better way, that once again was defeated by the DC Establishment.
That is not a good look for the 2020 elections, at least not for Democrats. Think about that, and maybe give peace a chance for a change.
22
@Mark Thomason
I'm puzzled. The DC establishment wants war with North Korea? Which DC establishment? Our diplomatic corps is hollowed out and leaking professionals. The state department is led by a non-entity eager to bolt. The military understand a war with North Korea will be devastating to South Korea and likely Japan and will draw in Russia and China. The global economy will be left in tatters as supply chains are destroyed.
Trump IS, now, the DC establishment and his vanity in believing he could buy Kim's acquiescence in return for waterfront developments was a pipe dream at best. The end game of North Korea abandoning its nuclear weapons and program was Trump's opening demand. It failed. Miserably and predictably.
131
@Mark Thomason Peace by letting the dictator do whatever he wants. Peace by letting the dictator get nuclear weapons. Yes, that definitely sounds like a winning strategy.
(sarcasm)
33
@Mark Thomason
Trump's "outreach" has been nothing but photo ops - with all of the same Obama era sanctions in place. Trump has stated he has no intention removing them or compromising, which is consistent with the fact that threats, sanctions, and tariffs are Trump’s bread and butter in deal-making. Consequently, from the jump, the entire process has had a Bloomberg's chance in Iowa of actually succeeding. Now, on 12/18/19, Republican Senator Toomey has said that the best chance of changing the path North Korea is on is with even more “crippling sanctions” because, “The current sanctions regime is not enough.” Clearly, there’s no attempt by Trump and the Republicans to “give peace a chance for a change.” And it’s not a good look for the future, regardless of how it looks re: the 2020 elections.
12
I am getting tired of so much winning.
And the "new" strategy will be the same old response - sanctions. Why will they work now?
In dealing with North Korea Trump is no better, and no worse, than every President who came before him, except that he give the Kim regime legitimacy by meeting with him. Now we are truly in a no-win situation, and there is no clear path to any way out.
171
@John Graybeard
Nonsense. Giving diplomacy an opportunity to work is one of the few sensible things the administration has done. It was a clear path to link economic development with denuclearization. It did not work.
The reality is that missiles will be launched for test purposes and will probably fly over Japan. I don't think our friends in Japan care one bit about Kim's legitimacy when the sirens start going off.
The US and the world is no better or worse off for giving it a try.
12
@Sendero Caribe - Trump seems to believe that "diplomacy" involves successive rounds of threats, followed by accolades and inducements to develop real estate.
Essentially all of Trump's diplomatic efforts - Venezuela, NATO, Ukraine, Russia - have been either self-serving or abject failures.
77
@Sendero Caribe This so-called diplomacy orchestrated by Trump was nothing more than an opportunity to poke previous administrations in the eyes, Obama in particular.
It was also a photo op that was used to keep the adoring masses cheering so they wouldn’t realize this “diplomacy” was part of the show inside Carnival Trump.
52
It’s the United States’ diplomacy that fizzles.
We need to stop blaming internal actors and band together as a country.
12
@John
US diplomacy has been hobbled at the gate by Trump's deliberately allowing diplomatic positions to go unfilled, as well as support positions within the State Department.
Many career professionals have left the State Department in the past 3 years. The State Department is a shell of what it once was. That is why it "fizzles." Who else would we blame?
19
@John Trump does not want war nor do most people in the world including the US (According to Chomsky, who keeps track of international and national polls). We want to resolve the conflict. How abou: No negative reinforcement; everyone agree to nuclear freeze and negotiate towards that positive goal (the positive reinforcement is freeing resources for constructive economic goals). Yes: Try to initiate diplomacy towards "global eradication of nuclear weapons" under UN auspicies. Anything less has the task of building trust in a nation that can destroy you on the basis of power. I doubt that is really possible, especially not with the only nation that used nuclear weapons and has relied on 'peace through (military) strength' in its foreign policy. It is time for 'strength through peace'. So, a negotiating strategy that uses positive reinforcement and no negative reinforcement (absence of overt threats) at each step. Genuine outreach each to all, all to each. The only negative reinforcement could be reality, outcomes resulting from real diplomacy, not a negotiating partner.
2
@NickO
How are you going to "freeze" them? They perfected the slow roll and ignore what you don't want to hear long, long ago.
The only thing that might work is the "bloody nose," and that might result in at least a barrage on Seoul, possibly an invasion.
The only thing left short of huge kinetic action would be a stand off destruction of missals at launch or in flight, an enormous risk unless it could be assured which I doubt is possible.