North Korea "Deal" Falling Apart (And Trump Is To Blame)

(Photo is from CNN.com.)

After meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore, Donald Trump tried to pose as a hero who had saved America (and the world). He told us that he had solved the North Korean problem, and they would be getting rid of their nuclear weapons. It was a LIE!

The truth is that the Singapore summit was nothing more than a public relations gambit for both men. No binding agreement was reached or signed. And neither nation has done what they promised the other they would do.

Now Trump has stopped the talks with North Korea (which as most people expected, were going nowhere anyway). And he's trying to blame China for the failing talks, even though China had no part in the summit. Trump wants China to fix his own failure (even though he's currently declared a trade war with them).

Here's just part of a pretty good op-ed on the situation by Simon Denyer in The Washington Post:

It’s all China’s fault, at least according to President Trump, who again blamed Beijing late Wednesday for an impasse in negotiations with Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.

But several experts said the real problem lies much closer to home, in Trump’s casual approach to negotiations with the North Koreans and the vague, oral promises exchanged at his meeting with the North Korean leader in Singapore in June.

Citing multiple individuals familiar with the negotiations, Vox reported Wednesday that Trump told Kim Jong Un in Singapore that he would sign a declaration to end the Korean War soon after their meeting.

Since then, the Trump administration has repeatedly asked Pyongyang to first dismantle most of its nuclear arsenal. That explains the current stalemate in negotiations, Vox reported.

“If that’s true, that’s why the North Koreans are dragging their feet,” said Robert Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea. “That’s Trump’s blunder.” 

North Korea believes that Trump made the same promise — to declare an end to the war — to Kim Yong Chol, a top North Korean official close to Kim Jong Un, at the White House on June 1 — 11 days before the summit, Vox also reported.

“If that’s true, that’s why the North Koreans are dragging their feet,” said Robert Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea. “That’s Trump’s blunder.” 

North Korea believes that Trump made the same promise — to declare an end to the war — to Kim Yong Chol, a top North Korean official close to Kim Jong Un, at the White House on June 1 — 11 days before the summit, Vox also reported. . . .

Pusan National University’s Kelly said Trump offered the North Koreans a huge amount in Singapore, including the suspension of military exercises with South Korea, without getting concrete promises in return.

His lack of understanding of the issues and lack of attention to detail have finally “collided with the reality of North Korea,” Kelly said. “They are not going to completely denuclearize ever. Nobody actually believes that. They took years developing these weapons. They are not going to give them up because Donald Trump says some stuff on Twitter.”. . .

When he called off Pompeo’s planned visit last week, Trump blamed a lack of progress toward denuclearization, but he also said China was not helping as much as in the past because of the trade dispute between Beijing and Washington. . . .

“I would imagine the trade war with China isn’t helping,” Kelly added. “I would imagine the Chinese aren’t being helpful, and that probably hurts at the margins, but the real problem is the incompetence of the Trump administration.”