USA & No Korea Summit LIVE THREAD

[skeeter]

You’re simply projecting your own insecurities into others.  I won’t worship Trump or claim he’s accomplished concrete goals others could not, and you think I’m dissing him?

Get over it.  Y’all are as pathetic as the liberals who were crowing about Obamas deal with Iran.

You need rest.

[mystery-ak]

It's hard to think things will slide by Bolton and Pompeo.

Exactly what I am thinking especially with Bolton

[edpc]

It's hard to think things will slide by Bolton and Pompeo.

Yep - that whole Iraq thing Bolton was behind worked out splendidly.  Pompeo also thinks we can Bosnia our way through Iran’s nuclear program with 2K sorties.

[Oceander]

You need rest.

I need a break from Trumpalos and mindless jingoism, that’s true enough. 

[TomSea]

Greta Van Susternen interviewed Trump in Singapore:

Van Susteren: What surprised you about Kim Jong Un?

Trump: “Really, he’s got a great personality. He’s a funny guy, he’s very smart, he’s a great negotiator. He loves his people, not that I’m surprised by that, but he loves his people. And I think that we have the start of an amazing deal. We’re going to denuke North Korea. It’s going to start immediately and a lot of other things are happening, including getting the remains back. You know — that’s been — know you’ve been so involved in North Korea, but getting the remains back Greta is so important to so many people. They’ve called me, they wrote me letters, “Please can you do it?” and he’s agreed to do that, thousands of people so — who died in the war — so that’s a big deal.”

Van Susteren: So you put the human rights issue on the table today and he reacted how?

Trump: “Very well. I mean, we obviously were talking about the denuclearization 90 percent of the time, but we put a lot of other things, including human rights were mentioned, getting the remains back were a big factor, in fact we put it in the document, we were able to get that in the document, we got a lot of good things in that document, that was far beyond what anyone thought was going to happen.”

https://www.voanews.com/a/trump-to-voa-we-re-going-to-denuke-north-korea-/4435044.html

Okay, even I admit, this is not the most coherent statement:

".... in fact we put it in the document, we were able to get that in the document, we got a lot of good things in that document,"

Anyone say "document"? 

[Oceander]

Greta Van Susternen interviewed Trump in Singapore:

Okay, even I admit, this is not the most coherent statement:

".... in fact we put it in the document, we were able to get that in the document, we got a lot of good things in that document,"

Anyone say "document"? 

And Trump is back to inhaling his own jingoism. 

[TomSea]

Yep - that whole Iraq thing Bolton was behind worked out splendidly.

Can one document how Bolton was behind that Iraq thing? That's been discussed before, he might have been for that intervention like countless politicians, Hannity and others, but he didn't help plan it.

[driftdiver]

Are there any concrete enforceable promises in this agreement?  Yes or no.

@Oceander
How do you get to something enforceable?

Simple question

[TomSea]

And Trump is back to inhaling his own jingoism.

Respectfully, to all in the forum, you just sound bent out of shape. Objecting to photo ops with a historical event? Really as is on the first page.

I love your points of view but here, you are coming off bitter.

As said before, it be Romney, McCain, I was supportive of whom the GOP candidate is. Not the sycophants some characterize others to be.

[driftdiver]

Greta Van Susternen interviewed Trump in Singapore:

Okay, even I admit, this is not the most coherent statement:

".... in fact we put it in the document, we were able to get that in the document, we got a lot of good things in that document,"

Anyone say "document"? 

He flew to Europe, had meetings, then flew to Asia (a 21 hour flight) and then had meetings all day.

Even with AF1 that is pretty good for a 71 year old.

[TomSea]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
    Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
    Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)   
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/24004.html

Aside from the quote, there probably is something to dealing with the Far Eastern Asian mentality. we will see.

[TomSea]

He flew to Europe, had meetings, then flew to Asia (a 21 hour flight) and then had meetings all day.

Even with AF1 that is pretty good for a 71 year old.

I wasn't really meaning to be critical. At times, he talks that way but it is clear to understand what he is saying with no doubts .... and as being the most powerful man in the world.

Let there be no doubts, it's in the document!

[Bigun]

It's hard to think things will slide by Bolton and Pompeo.

Agreed!   And they will have much to say about anything that gets agreed to.

[Oceander]

Respectfully, to all in the forum, you just sound bent out of shape. Objecting to photo ops with a historical event? Really as is on the first page.

I love your points of view but here, you are coming off bitter.

As said before, it be Romney, McCain, I was supportive of whom the GOP candidate is. Not the sycophants some characterize others to be.

Sorry, but Trump-worship is just as offensive as Obama-worship, it not moreso given how so many Trumpalos knocked liberals for worshipping Obama.  I object to the worship.

[edpc]

Can one document how Bolton was behind that Iraq thing? That's been discussed before, he might have been for that intervention like countless politicians, Hannity and others, but he didn't help plan it.

No, he’s on record as saying Powell and Armitage kept him out of the planning, because his views aligned with Cheney and Rumsfeld.  He’s also been unapologetic about the decision to invade.

John Bolton: No regrets about toppling Saddam

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/john-bolton-no-regrets-about-toppling-saddam/article/2564463

[skeeter]

Sorry, but Trump-worship is just as offensive as Obama-worship, it not moreso given how so many Trumpalos knocked liberals for worshipping Obama.  I object to the worship.

Your beef isn't with us. Its with Dennis Rodman.

[TomSea]

No, he’s on record as saying Powell and Armitage kept him out of the planning, because his views aligned with Cheney and Rumsfeld.  He’s also been unapologetic about the decision to invade.

John Bolton: No regrets about toppling Saddam

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/john-bolton-no-regrets-about-toppling-saddam/article/2564463

We also know John Bolton has written controverial things,

Opinion | To Stop Iran’s Bomb, Bomb Iran - The New York Times (John Bolton)
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/opinion/to-stop-irans-bomb-bomb-iran.html

And I think he talked about a preemptive strike against North Korea at one time, so, that Bolton has some strong opinions isn't a secret.

And Rand Paul said he was against Bolton because Bolton said invading Iraq wasn't a mistake.

Bolton's record certainly is very public.

[aligncare]

It's you reading things into the comments of the "idiotic worshippers." We all know this summit was just an opening move.

They’ll never acknowledge that Donald Trump built his career on his negotiation skills. They take every Trump utterance literally and take every presidential accomplishment as invalid because well, you know, TRUMP.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

Greta Van Susternen interviewed Trump in Singapore:

I used to like her, but her question is nuts.

Virtually the entire press corps, State Department, foreign policy pundits, etc., apparently never negotiated anything significant.  There is a time and a place for everything, and the time and place for battling over human rights is not at a summit about nuclear disarmament.  You focus on the one key issue for which you came there, and you don't let other crap that might derail things interfere.

Far too many people have fallen into the trap of being more concerned about political "optics" than about substance.

[Frank Cannon]

Sorry, but Trump-worship is just as offensive as Obama-worship, it not moreso given how so many Trumpalos knocked liberals for worshipping Obama.  I object to the worship.

This from a guy posting on a site that up until recently had a picture of Reagan in the header.

Trump has destroyed your weltanschauung and I see it frightens you.

[Maj. Bill Martin]

One other good thing that came out of this as Dennis Rodman revealed how President Obama blew him off when he approached Obama regarding Kim’s desire to make positive changes, and how Trump took the opposite position in welcoming Rodman’s overtures.

Don’t think that this went unnoticed in the black community as Trump continues to make inroads there for republican gains.

Trump decided that you can't negotiate unless you talk.  Obama apparently was given the asinine advice that playing the stern, silent father type was the way to proceed.  That is a negotiating strategy that has failed magnificently for decades.

[thackney]

Why can’t you simply admit that this was nothing more than a pleasant meet and greet, with no substantive results?  There is no dishonor in it, and it doesn’t reflect poorly on you or Trump. 

What it did not do was move the ball down the field even an inch.  So let’s stop pretending that Trump just kicked a field goal.

I don't agree that this was no progress. 

I do agree this meeting and "proclamation" will not have much meaning without further follow-through.  But I don't see the following actions beginning without this start.

If Kim does further Nuke testing from this point, the US would have better justification for a military response.  I see that as progress. 

We tried to be diplomatic.  It will be more difficult for Kim to back away at this point on his own actions.

[Oceander]

They’ll never acknowledge that Donald Trump built his career on his negotiation skills. They take every Trump utterance literally and take every presidential accomplishment as invalid because well, you know, TRUMP.

I never said this was invalid.  It is what it is, and I quite agree that Rome wasn’t built in a day.  So let’s stop pretending that we’ve got even one of the seven hills already built. 

[Oceander]

This from a guy posting on a site that up until recently had a picture of Reagan in the header.

Trump has destroyed your weltanschauung and I see it frightens you.

/snicker

Fancy German vocab wont save you. 

[Maj. Bill Martin]

I hope all the compliments Trump has bestowed on Kim are part of reeling Kim in....

Of course they are. Look, Trump already went down the very harsh rhetoric path, to the point where people thought he was nuts, and going to provoke an actual nuclear war with NK.  "Trump is a warmonger who will get us all killed!"

But after that mountain fractured, we got the upper hand.  When Kim started making noises that were different, and less confrontational, that's when Trump (very, very rightly) decided to depersonalize the communications, and use a carrot rather than a stick.  If a verifiable deal doesn't happen, you want it to be because the parties just can't agree, not because Un's ego is hurt and he refuses a deal out of spite.

This kind of stuff is Negotiations 101.  There is a time to bang on the table and threaten, and then comes a time when you offer to get the other guy a cup of coffee, and then there's a time when you bring the donuts, ask about the other side's kids, and thank them for working with you.  Maybe you ultimately reach a deal, and maybe you don't, but you should never ever let personal acrimony or emotion be what kills a deal.

I've sealed a lot of negotiations with plaintiffs and their attorneys by giving a "heartfelt" (not really) statement about how I understand their feelings, blah blah blah.  Because ultimately, a little bit of butt-kissing is of no consequence if you get that deal done.