NOT A Historic Moment (Just Another Trump Photo-Op)

(Image of Trump and Kim Jong-Un standing in North Korea is from abc7ny.com.)

Donald Trump took a short trip from the G20 summit in Japan to the DMZ between North and South Korea to have a short meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. While there, he stepped over the tiny concrete barrier between the two Koreas and walked a few steps into North Korea.

And the U.S. media went wild. Some called it a historic moment (which Trump loved), saying he was the first sitting U.S. president to enter North Korea.

Frankly, it makes me ashamed of the media. It was NOT a historic moment. It was nothing more than a photo-op. A made-up event to make the two failed leaders try to look important.

Historic moments change history. This stunt by Trump (and Kim Jong-Un) changed nothing. Do you believe this is a moment that will be in future history books? A moment that will be taught in future history classes as meaningful? Of course not!

That's because it changed nothing.

North Korea still has its nuclear weapons and missiles -- and it continues to build up its stockpile of both. And the North Korean dictator continues to play Trump like a violin. The only person to benefit from this publicity stunt is Kim Jong-Un, because it gives the impression that he is important enough to have a U.S. president at his beck and call (while giving up nothing). It just makes Trump look like a fool.

NOTE -- Don't you think Iranian leaders are watching? They should be more convinced than ever that they need to develop nuclear weapons of their own. It should be clear to them now that the way to get respect from Trump is to be a nuclear power (like the murderous regime of North Korea). Abiding by a treaty to not develop nuclear weapons got them nothing but sanctions and threats of war from Trump.

So, while Trump's North Korean photo-op fiasco has not made anything better, it will make the world a more dangerous place. Trump is not smart enough to know that, and doesn't seem to care (since photo-ops are more important than diplomacy to him).

Will Trump Accomplish Anything In Vietnam? - Probably Not!

(Image was found on Facebook. The originator is unknown.)

Donald Trump is in Vietnam for a second meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-Un. The last time they met (in Singapore), Trump got nothing except an agreement that didn't oblige North Korea to do anything.

In spite of that, Trump claimed that he had made the world safe, and North Korea had agreed to give up their nuclear weapons. It was not true. North Korea continues to make nuclear bombs and missiles capable of carrying them -- and the world knows that. Note in the chart below (from the Pew Research Center) that both Americans and people in other countries are still concerned about the danger of North Korea having nuclear weapons.

Since then, he has scaled his claims back, since his own intelligence agencies have said the North Koreans have done nothing to disarm. Now Trump claims that his visit caused North Korea to stop testing nuclear bombs and missiles. That's another disingenuous claim. They have tested both enough to know they work.

Will Trump be played for a fool again this time? It's likely. No one believes that North Korea will give up their nuclear weapons. Even many in the White House are nervous that Trump will give up too much for spurious promises from North Korea -- promises they have no intention of keeping.

The meetings start Wednesday, and the world holds its breath -- hoping that Trump doesn't blow it too bad this time. Sadly, that's probably a vain hope.

N. Korea Pegged Trump As A Fool And They Played Him

That was Donald Trump's tweet as he returned from meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore. He was convinced (or at least tried to convince us) that he had saved the United States (and the world) from the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles.

But only a fool could believe that. Although an "agreement" was signed, it was not binding. And North Korea continues to do just what it always intended to do -- keep building missiles and nuclear weapons. The U.S. got nothing out of the Singapore summit. North Korea got a lot. They got the U.S. off their backs while they continue to arm themselves with nuclear missiles. In short, they played Trump for a fool -- appealing to his narcissism and taking advantage of his ignorance.

This is how Paul Waldman puts it in The Washington Post:

About six months ago, attendees at a Trump rally were so giddy about the president’s masterly diplomatic maneuvering in supposedly convincing North Korea to suspend testing of nuclear weapons that they began to chant “Nobel! Nobel!,” taking even President Trump by surprise (though he later claimed that “everyone thinks” he deserved one). Not long after, Trump met with Kim Jong Un and returned to declare that he had achieved what presidents had tried and failed to do for decades.

Well, about that …

North Korea is moving ahead with its ballistic missile program at 16 hidden bases that have been identified in new commercial satellite images, a network long known to American intelligence agencies but left undiscussed as President Trump claims to have neutralized the North’s nuclear threat.

The satellite images suggest that the North has been engaged in a great deception: It has offered to dismantle a major launching site — a step it began, then halted — while continuing to make improvements at more than a dozen others that would bolster launches of conventional and nuclear warheads.

The existence of the ballistic missile bases, which North Korea has never acknowledged, contradicts Mr. Trump’s assertion that his landmark diplomacy is leading to the elimination of a nuclear and missile program that the North had warned could devastate the United States.

Who could have predicted something like this would happen? Pretty much everyone. Except, apparently, the president of the United States. In fact, it’s precisely Trump’s naive view of foreign policy that brought us to this point.

Let’s recall what happened at that summit in June, when the two leaders signed an agreement under which the North Koreans promised to “work toward” denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. That pledge was almost completely meaningless; as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told me at the time, “It’s important to note that that is a weaker commitment to denuclearization than the regime has made in the past.”

But the president naturally declared victory. “He’s de-nuking, I mean he’s de-nuking the whole place,” Trump said, an assertion that was obviously false. One can only hope Trump was lying and didn’t actually believe that was what was happening.

So that summit, which seemed so dramatic at the time, turned out to be a failure. Why? Because Trump is gripped by a fundamental misconception about foreign policy.

For Trump, everything is personal and everything is about him. He doesn’t need to understand the history of our relationships with other nations, the forces acting on an an adversary or the incentives its leadership faces. He’s the world’s greatest dealmaker! He’ll get in a room with the guy, employ the same skills he uses to drive down the price on gold-leaf wallpaper for one of his buildings and, bada boom bada bing, we’ve got ourselves a historic bilateral agreement.

You can see it in the way Trump talks about foreign relations. He never tries to understand where other countries are coming from or what they are seeking; it’s all about whether they’re screwing us over and whether he’ll “get along” with another country’s leader, as though a friendly personal relationship will make anything possible. “I hope we get along well. I think we get along well,” he said about Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We had a great chemistry, not good, but great,” he said about Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I liked him and he liked me a lot.” A few weeks ago he described his relationship with Kim this way: “I was really being tough, and so was he, and we’d go back and forth. And then we fell in love. Okay? No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love.”

But alas, love can be fleeting. The problem is that no matter how many beautiful letters Kim sends to Trump, the North Korean leader still sees nuclear weapons as the key to his survival. As far as he’s concerned, his weapons mean that no great power would dare to invade his country and destroy his regime; without them, he could wind up like Saddam Hussein or Moammar Gaddafi, i.e., deposed and dead.

It’s vital to understand that while Kim is a brutal dictator, that’s an absolutely rational position for him to take. Which means that getting him to give up those nuclear weapons is difficult and complicated. In fact, it’s possible that there’s nothing we can offer him in exchange that would be sufficiently enticing.

Trump is hardly the first U.S. president to struggle with North Korea’s willingness to deceive and break its promises, nor is he the first who failed to find something compelling enough to offer North Korea in exchange for denuclearization. But no president before him was so naive as to proclaim victory after having accomplished so little. I suppose that makes Trump’s foreign policy just the same as everything else he does.

Trump And Kim Are "In Love"

(Cartoon image is by Marian Kamensky at cagle.com.)

Trump actually made the following remark last Saturday at a rally in West Virginia:

"I was really being tough, and so was he. And we would go back and forth. And then we fell in love, okay? No, really. He wrote me beautiful letters, and they’re great letters. We fell in love."

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.”

Evidence Emerges That Trump Got Played By Kim

That's the tweet Trump published after his meeting with Kim Jong-Un in Singapore. He claimed that there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea, because Kim Jong-Un had agreed to give up his nuclear weapons. He repeated that claim to journalists in the days following the summit.

Unfortunately, his bold claims were premature. The agreement he signed with the North Korea leader was not a binding agreement for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, and provided for no kind of verification that they would do so. It was just a feel-good moment for both leaders that meant nothing.

Has North Korea taken steps to give up those weapons? Have they even stopped production of nuclear weapons and missiles? NO! In fact, they have done just the opposite. Our intelligence agencies have now verified that North Korea has taken steps to increase their ability to produce nuclear weapons and the missiles to carry those weapons.

Consider this from military.com:

U.S. intelligence officials believe North Korea has been "deceiving" the U.S., saying the Hermit Kingdom was bolstering production for nuclear weapons at "multiple secret sites" in the past few months, a report stated.

Officials from the CIA and other intelligence agencies told NBC News the regime has increased its production of enriched uranium for the weapons despite the historic summit earlier this month between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump. Kim and Trump both signed a document on June 12 stating that Pyongyang would work toward "complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.". . .

However, the officials believed North Korea was "positioning itself to extract every concession it can from the Trump administration -- while clinging to nuclear weapons it believes are essential to survival." 

And this from time.com:

The Middlebury Institute of International Studies report found that North Korea has recently expanded a factory complex in the eastern city of Hamhung that produces key engines for solid-fuel ballistic missiles. The factory also makes other missile components, including re-entry vehicles for warheads that could be used on longer-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S.

“The expansion suggests that, despite hopes for denuclearization, Kim Jong Un is committed to increasing North Korea’s stockpile of nuclear-armed missiles,” the report’s authors David Schmerler and Jeffrey Lewis wrote.

Donald Trump got played by the North Korean leader. Kim just wanted his moment on the world stage, and Trump was dumb enough to give it to him. Nothing has changed about the North Korean nuclear threat.

Americans didn't really believe Trump's bragging anyway. Only 24% of Americans said in a recent poll that they believed North Korea had agreed to give up nuclear weapons, and that included less than half of Republicans (49%). It seems that the U.S. public was smarter than Trump

The chart below is from the latest Economist / YouGov Poll -- done between June 24th and 26th of a national sample of 1,500 adults, with a margin of error of 3.1 points.

The Trump/Kim Bromance Didn't Last Very Long

(The caricature of Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un is by DonkeyHotey.)

Less that two weeks ago Trump was singing the praises of Kim Jong-Un, the dictator of North Korea. He called him a good leader, talented, and trustworthy -- and told Americans that they had nothing more to worry about from North Korea. He said the threat of a nuclear North Korea was over, and it was all due to the marvelous negotiating powers of Donald Trump.

Well, it seems the bromance didn't last very long. Trump is finally starting to realize he got played by the North Korean leader. Trump sent a letter to Congress last Friday. He told them that North Korea's "provocative, destabilizing, and repressive actions . . . continue to constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat", and that country continues it's "pursuit of nuclear and missile programs".

I'm glad that Trump is finally realizing what most Americans already knew -- that Kim Jong-Un is a vicious and brutal dictator, and cannot be trusted any more that his father or grandfather.

The Orange Dotard Gets Played By A Tin-Pot Dictator

Well, it happened. As the pictures above show, Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump actually met in Singapore.

I wish I could say that nothing was accomplished, because that would be a big improvement over what did happen. While Trump is trying to say the summit was good for both countries, that is simply not true. The summit produced a clear winner and a clear loser.

The clear winner was Kim Jong-Un. The pictures above were flashed around the world. They portray him as an important leader -- important enough to force a face-to-face meeting and negotiation with the leader of the most powerful nation in the world (both militarily and economically). They enhance his reputation beyond his wildest dreams. This is especially true in North Korea, where it greatly enhances his ability to hold on to power. Trump added to Kim Jong-Un's victory by saying he was "honored" to meet him, that he was a "talented" person, and that he "trusted" him.

The clear loser was Donald Trump. Trump has repeatedly said that nothing short of complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula could be considered a success of the talks. While he got a vague and meaningless agreement signed, he did not get what he went to Singapore to get.

Does North Korea still have nuclear weapons? YES

Is there a timetable for them to give up those weapons? NO

Is there a binding agreement for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons? NO

Is there a binding agreement for North Korea to stop research and testing on its nuclear weapons program? NO

Did North Korea agree to stop testing its long-range missiles and give them up? NO

Did North Korea agree to stop its plutonium and uranium enrichment programs? NO

In other words, Trump got nothing that he promised he would get. And then, making matters even worse, Trump tossed in a "freebie" -- he promised to stop the joint military exercises in that area, claiming they would be "provocative" to his new buddy.

Donald Trump met with a tin-pot dictator, and he got played. The conman got conned. The "great negotiator" failed -- again.

Text Of The U.S./N. Korea Agreement Signed In Singapore

(Photo is from The Times Of Israel.)

Donald Trump is crowing about the agreement he and Kim Jong-Un signed after their meeting in Singapore. He wants us to think that agreement actually accomplished something. It didn't. The agreement contained only some vague statements and no binding provisions. Read it for yourself:

President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new US-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 

Convinced that the establishment of new US-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:

1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new US-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity. 
2. The United States and DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. 
3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula
4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

Having acknowledged that the US-DPRK summit -- the first in history -- was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in the joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-on negotiations, led by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the US-DPRK summit.

President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new US-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and the security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.

DONALD J. TRUMP 
President of the United States of America

KIM JONG UN 
Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

June 12, 2018
Sentosa Island
Singapore

QUESTION -- Is the agreement worth the paper it was signed on, considering that both signees are known for lying and breaking promises and agreements?

Could Half Of All Americans Really Be This Clueless ?

The chart above reflects the results of a new Rasmussen Poll -- done on May 10th and 13th of a random national sample of 1,000 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

I understand that the Rasmussen Poll is usually kind to the Republican point of view, but I was still rather shocked to see these results. The poll says that 51% of the public is at least somewhat confident that the meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un next month will result in the denuclearization of North Korea (or at least the slowing of their program). Only 39% don't believe the meeting will accomplish that (and 10% are unsure whether anything will be accomplished).

I know that Trump has a dream of North Korean denuclearization, and believes the economic sanctions on that country has forced them to the bargaining table. I believe he is wrong.

North Korea has wanted a one-to-one meeting with the President of the United States for many years now -- and they would happily have done such a meeting with George W. Bush or Barack Obama. But Bush and Obama both were smart enough to understand that such a meeting would only benefit North Korea, and would not result in the termination of their nuclear weapons program.They understood that the North Korean leader only wanted such a meeting to enhance his own standing in the eyes of the world -- and meeting one-on-one with the most powerful leader in the world would make him look like a true world leader.

Trump is not that smart, and he fell for the ploy by Kim Jong-Un. He doesn't understand that this was just a public relations ploy by North Korea, and the fact that the meeting will be held means North Korea has already gotten what they want (and the meeting's photo ops will just be icing on the cake for them).

Trump claims that North Korea stopping their nuclear testing was because of his threats and sanctions, and represented a concession by the North Korean leader. It wasn't. As experts have noted, the nuclear test site that North Korea used has collapsed. It is unusable. North Korea couldn't test a nuclear device right now if it wanted to do so. Trump was conned.

North Korea has no intention of giving up their nuclear weapons.

Did North Korea Say It Was Willing To "Denuclearize" ?

 The new media is full of stories about a possible face-to-face meeting between Kim Jong-Un of North Korea and Donald Trump -- which would be to negotiate the differences between the two countries.

The stories spring from a meeting Trump had with South Korean officials. They told Trump that the North Korean leader would like to have a face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump, and that the North Korean leader said he would be willing to discuss denuclearization.

Trump, impulsive as ever, went off half-cocked and announced to the press that he would be willing to have such a meeting. He then told the press that the North Koreans were willing to give up their nuclear weapons. He even had his press spokesman, Sarah Sanders, repeat that in a press conference -- although she seemed to walk back Trump's willingness to meet by saying certain "concrete" steps would have to occur before a meeting could take place.

Did North Korea really say it would be willing to unilaterally give up its nuclear weapons? No! They said they would be willing to discuss denuclearization. Isn't that the same thing that every nuclear power has said (including the United States)? They have all talked about a dream of a world without nuclear weapons -- but none of them have said they would unilaterally give up their nuclear weapons. And neither has North Korea.

No nation that has acquired nuclear weapons has been willing to give them up -- and anyone who believes North Korea will be the first to do so is living in a dream world. North Korea is NOT going to give up its nuclear weapons.

They did say they would be willing to stop testing for a while to have a one-to-one meeting between Kim Jong-Un and Donald Trump. This is not surprising, since they already have the bomb and the missile delivery systems. Why would they want this meeting (since they are not doing to give up their nuclear weapons)? For propaganda purposes. It would allow them to pose as an equal to the United States, and in their eyes, would enhance their importance.

I don't believe this meeting will take place. Cooler heads seem to have talked with Trump, and he's now saying things must happen before that meeting could happen (and those things are unlikely to happen).

This could be a good thing. A meeting between the two narcissists would be doomed to failure (with North Korea refusing to unilaterally disarm and the U.S. refusing to lift any sanctions). Such a public failure could give Trump the excuse he has been searching for to laugh a military attack on North Korea. He has been wanting to do that, but so far cooler heads have talked him out of it. They might no longer be able to do that if he is embarrassed by a face-to-face negotiating failure.

Trump Is Considered As Big A Threat As Kim Jong-Un

Donald Trump likes to portray himself as the savior of the United States -- the person who will "Make America Great Again". But that's just his narcissism talking. The public sees him far differently.

In fact, about 46% of Americans see Donald Trump as a greater threat to the United States than North Korea's Kim Jong-Un (45%).

The chart reflects the results of a recent Rasmussen Poll -- done on September 24th and 25th of a random national sample of 1,000 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

Is China The Only Adult In The Room ?

The chart above reflects the results of a new Rasmussen Poll -- done on August 9th and 10th of a random national sample of 1,000 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.

It shows that a significant majority of Americans (63%) think Donald Trump is likely to launch some kind of military strike against North Korea within the next 6 months. That's a scary thought, but there is good reason for people believing that. And there's also good reason to think North Korea may launch a military attack against the U.S. (or its allies).

For the last few days, the leaders of both countries have been making escalating threats. Trump threatened to release "fire and fury" against North Korea. North Korea responded by threatening to hit Guam with a nuclear missile. Trump then upped the ante by saying the U.S. military is "locked and loaded".

If these two countries had reasonable leaders, these threats might not matter (and probably never would have been made). But that is not the case. The leaders of both countries are narcissists with fragile egos -- just the kind of persons that might go to war over a perceived slight. They are acting like playground bullies -- bullies who would rather see the playground destroyed before giving in or compromising.

Fortunately, there may be an adult in the room -- China. Chinese leaders don't want to see a war, and they have been pleading (unsuccessfully) with both nations to stop the war rhetoric and calm down. Even though both nations are ignoring them, the Chinese have made their position very clear (through its state-run newspaper). That newspaper printed the following opinion on the situation:

"China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral."

"If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so."

That actually sounds reasonable. China will engage with both sides in an effort to avoid war -- but will NOT support either nation in a first strike. If North Korea strikes first, China will not defend them -- and if the U.S. strikes first, they will have China to deal with. If we are able to avoid war in the region, it could well be because of China.

When I was growing up, China was considered a wild card that could initiate a war while the U.S. was considered the voice of reason. That has now flip-flopped -- with the U.S. being a wild card that could start a war and China being the voice of reason.

We live in a very strange world today -- and a very dangerous one.

Trump Has An Envy Of Authoritarian Leaders

We have known for a while now about Donald Trump's admiration for Vladimir Putin of Russia, but that doesn't seem to be the only authoritarian leader he envies. This week, he congratulated Rodrigo Duterte, the strongman ruling the Philippines, on his recent election victory (in an election that almost no one thinks was fairly conducted) and invited him to the White House. And while Trump has sounded belligerent toward North Korea, he also recently called Kim Jong-un a "smart cookie" and said he would be "honored" to meet with him.

Meanwhile, Trump has not been so complimentary of some of our allies from countries with democratically-elected leaders. He has argued with leaders from Mexico, Australia, and Germany -- and been very critical of the French leaders. 

This begs the question -- why does Trump seem to admire authoritarian leaders more than democratically-elected leaders? Is he jealous of the ability of the authoritarians to do whatever they want (regardless of what the people of their countries need or want)? Does he wish he had that kind of power?

I think so. Trump doesn't seem to understand how a democratic government works. He is frustrated because Congress, the Courts, and the general public haven't liked his proposals or executive orders -- and he doesn't seem to have the skills necessary to negotiate or compromise. He seems to have had the idea before being elected that he could just march in and command the government to do whatever he wanted. But democracies don't work that way -- and our Constitution was written in such a way as to prevent a president from doing that.

Trump is envious of authoritarian leaders because he covets the kind of power they are able to wield. He wants that kind of power for himself -- and that makes him a very dangerous man.

NOTE -- There is a fourth tyrant that Trump likes -- the authoritarian ruler of Turkey (Recep Erdogan).It looks like the United States will abandon it's fight against tyranny while Trump is president -- because our wannabe dictator admires authoritarianism.

  

Are We On The Brink Of A Shooting War In Asia ?

“Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but losing all round and no one could become a winner.”

Those are the words of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as the leaders of North Korea and the United States head toward a possible showdown this week. The Chinese seem to be the one voice of reason.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is set to do something showy this weekend to celebrate the birthday of his grandfather Kim Il Sung -- either with a new nuclear test or ballistic missile test. Trump has sent more ships to the waters off North Korea, and ominously threatened to take care of the problem with that rogue nation. Many expect Trump to bomb North Korea if a new nuclear test is done by that nation.

If Kim Jong-un goes ahead with the test, and Trump retaliates with a military action, we will be in a shooting war. Both men have an inflated view of their own military strength. Kim Jong-un seems to think the North Korean military is strong enough to take on any adversary. Trump seems convinced that the American military can bring anyone to heel by using its military strength. Both men are wrong -- and I hope it doesn't take a new war to show them that.

But the problem we face is that both of these men are extreme narcissists, who cannot admit they are ever wrong and consider backing down from a threat to be defeat. Reality means nothing to either, and both seem to have dispensed with diplomacy in favor of military threats.

Neither country needs a war. North Korea would be devastated by U.S. power, and U.S. bases and ships could be attacked and destroyed by North Korea (and South Korea and maybe even Japan could be attacked, since they are allies of the U.S.). The Chinese are right -- there would be no winner if this happened.

Can either leader be talked back from the brink of war? Can China talk Kim Jong-un into a more reasonable position? Can South Korean, Japanese, and European leaders convince Trump that a military attack on North Korea would be a serious mistake?

I certainly hope so, but I don't have much faith in either of these leaders doing the right thing. It's going to be a tense weekend as we wait to see what happens. We are closer to a new Asian war than we've been in several decades.