Is anyone else bothered, troubled, and puzzled by this?
Trump, our only President at the moment, recently said that if Kim Jong Un would meet with him and give Trump something he can trumpet as a victory, Kim will get “...protections that will be very strong.” Earlier, Trump had said that if Kim would meet him, Trump would guarantee “He (Kim) would be in his country and running his country. His country would be very rich.”
North Korea is, arguably, the most repressive regime in the world. Kim Jong Un is, arguably, a monster or, as Trump might put it, “an animal.”
Several things about Trump’s comments bother and puzzle me.
First, has there ever been, in the history of our nation, an instance where our President promised to guarantee a leader — let alone, a brutal dictator — would be given US protections to keep him in power? What very strong protections does Trump intend to give Kim? How would Trump keep Kim in power?
Second, how is Trump proposing to make North Korea “very rich?” Would Trump use US funds to shore up a brutal dictatorship?
Third, and this is purely subjective, how desperate must Trump be for this meeting to happen? He’s practically pleading with Kim to meet. One of Kim’s primary objectives was for the United States to agree to meet with him on a bilateral basis, which would recognize North Korea as a world player and Kim Jong Un as the equal of all other leaders in the world.
I would say Kim has succeeded in that desire.
If Trump had listened to seasoned Korean hands, he would have known Kim’s desire for recognition and he would have known that North Korea is the master of bait-and-switch, making promises they never intend to keep, and bluster. (Sound familiar? You’d think Trump would have recognized his own play book.)