Trump Crosses the Line with the DPRK

From July 1, 2019

There seems to be nothing that the North Koreans can ask Trump for that he won’t give them.

First there was a summit meeting. Followed by a second. The period in-between peppered with friendly tweets about Kim Jong-Un and his character.

And now, in the wake of their third meeting, held at the symbolism-heavy DMZ, Kim asked Trump to step across the line and into the glorious land of the chosen people — AKA the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. And here’s the kicker: The President took him up on the offer.

Normally a Presidential state visit is about as choreographed at a Beyonce concert. Move here, transit there, go by this route, so many minutes, arrive, shake hands with this person, then that person., sit here, smile for 30 seconds of photo ops, etc. Of course, Trump don’t roll that way. And one more box is checked on the DPRK’s wish list.

If you had asked the North what they wanted most, diplomatically, in 2016 they might have mumbled something like “two-party talks with the Americans.” Not even in their wildest dreams would they have dared to suggest a summit with the U.S. President. Somewhere farther on down the road would have been the even crazier “U.S. President comes to North Korea.”

And they got them both. The price for these huge, huge wins? Absolutely nothing. Vague hints at “denuclearization,” which means something very different to them than to us. But it doesn’t matter what it means, because they backed off even from that. And they still got more summits. And the impromptu crossing the boarder photo-op. Pro- and anti-Trump, most are tired of the old canard about Trump as a master deal-maker. But here, as much as anywhere, we see that he just doesn’t get it. If he were truly interested in making the “best deals” for the U.S., he’s failed miserably to secure anything in exchange for giving the North these two great wins. I don’t think he did it stupidly, or treasonously, or out of some man-crush on Kim. He just didn’t know he was giving away something of value, because he is ignorant of statecraft. And apparently he must not listen to those near him. This is the danger of Trump’s foreign policy. Ignorance. And, like a doughy shark who found a fertile feeding ground, Kim will come looking for more. Next up is either a trip from Kim the Washington, or acknowledgement of the DPRK as a nuclear power.

Maybe we can get both done over a weekend at Mar-a-lago.