Trump's Declaration That North Korea Is 'No Longer a Nuclear Threat' Will Haunt Him

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Few were surprised that Trump bungled his much-hyped summit with Kim Jong-un. And, as expected, the president emerged from Singapore singing the praises of the North Korean dictator, as he has done after meeting with other authoritarian leaders around the world. What's mind-boggling is the extreme degree to which Trump has gushed over Kim – touting his "great personality" while dismissing his myriad human rights atrocities – as well as his unbridled belief that the longtime United States adversary is going to denuclearize as soon as possible.

On Wednesday morning, the president went so far as to hang a Mission Accomplished! banner across his Twitter feed, declaring that "there is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."

Link to tweet

Trump also assured Americans that Kim Jong-un was negotiating in good faith, and that North Korea is no longer a problem. "Sleep well tonight!" the president wrote.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Though the president wants all of these things to be true, in reality, little has changed as a result of the summit. If one were being generous, the summit could be called a step in the right direction, but there's still a long way to go before anything resembling a substantive agreement is reached. While in Singapore, Trump promised to call off America's joint military exercises with South Korea – and, according to state-run media in North Korea, to lift economic sanctions – while receiving nothing from Kim other than a tenuous promise to denuclearize. No parameters were outlined. No timetable was set. Doing so would have been close to impossible, anyway, as Trump was steadfast in his refusal to verse himself in the specifics of North Korea's nuclear program, telling reporters "it's about the attitude." No notes were required, either. "I have one of the greatest memories of all time," the president boasted.

There is of course plenty of historical evidence to suggest Kim Jong-un has no intention of abandoning the nuclear arsenal North Korea has spent years developing. In 1985, North Korea signed a non-proliferation treaty. In 1992, it signed a joint declaration with South Korea promising to denuclearize. In 1994, it promised the United States it would dismantle its nuclear program in exchange for aid. In 2005, North Korea promised to give up its nuclear program in exchange for energy assistance. In 2010, North Korean state media said the nation "will be party to nonproliferation and disarmament agreements" commensurate to other states with nuclear capabilities. In 2012, the country said it would suspend long-range missile tests in exchange for food aid. After conducting several tests in 2016, North Korea said it would be willing to denuclearize, and then continued to conduct tests. The most recent bit of evidence North Korea is likely to stand pat came in the weeks leading up to the summit, when the country’s vice minister of foreign affairs released a statement criticizing the United States while claiming the nation has no intention of denuclearizing in exchange for economic relief.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/trump-north-korea-nuclear-threat-w521471?utm_source=rsnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=061318_11

[Gothmog]

1. Like Mission Accomplished haunted W

Link to tweet

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

2. I used the same meme in response to Trump

[RKP5637]

3. Truly a sign of increasing dementia. n/t

[gratuitous]

4. I agree with much of this analysis

But as for anything Trump says or tweets coming back to haunt him, well, the next time it happens will be the first time. If someone actually gets a chance to question Trump directly about some stupid thing he said, with an airy wave of his hand, he dismisses any concern, and there's never a follow up. If someone asks his press secretary about it, she scowls and gives one of her pat answers: (a) I've already answered that question; (2) I haven't spoken to the president about that; (iii) the president never said that, and if he did, you didn't understand what he was really saying; and so forth.

You will never wring a concession out of this bunch of liars. They will never says, "Aw shucks, you caught me." The whole administration is built on gaslighting, denying everything, admitting nothing, and always cheat.