āWe are doing our very best. As you know and Iāve just learned, they have been there a long time and itās harsh treatment.ā
And just a touch of blaming his predecessor
āthis should have been taken care of by past administrations, when they were not nearly so far along.ā
Actually, Dotard, the last one the Norkoās released is pushing up the daisies as we speakā¦
āPresident Donald Trump on Wednesday said that he thought there was a āgood chanceā that three Americans held prisoner in North Korea would be released.ā
Perhaps a prisoner exchange might work.
Weād take all three Americans for Trump, Pence, and an unindicted co-conspirator to be named later.
Two of those Americans were taken as prisoners during Trumpās presidency. It is unlikely that he knows the names of the three Americans nor when they were taken. I cannot stand his stupidity.
As I posted yesterday, Iām convinced, using Trumpās razor, that Trump thinks heās in the running for the Nobel Peace Prize. He has to outdo Obama because heās obsessed with Obama. Itās the stupidest possible motivation. And, not surprisingly, I noticed Trump trolls on Phillip Ruckerās twitter feed regarding the āsecretā Pompeo trip, suggesting this very thing. This is all about Trumpās need for attention and adulation. I agree with Joshās thread that if good comes out of this, we should take it. But I never stop to ask myself, āwhatās in this for Trump? Who is he exploiting to self aggrandize?ā
More like this: https://www.ft.com/content/8c6d9dca-882c-11e7-bf50-e1c239b45787
DJT has no compunction about wagering the resources of our government and its allies to up the ante in his dictatorial gamble. Itās all TV, and his Rocket mate will duck. Kim has China and Russia as a proxies, everything to gain, unlike the desperate failed mobster in chief. Not to mention the array of compliance charters, regional and international signatories to verification among the legal community. What DJT is doing with Pompeo is more like old school mafia signaling. Heās trying to surround himself with people that can shield him from FSB and its ancillaries, unless they lay off or pay up, but he canāt win this one. Heās out of his depth, it seems.
Trump would have to pass the physical.
Oh please let it be Pruitt. Send him over in an oil drum.
You know, looking at it that way, if Trump decides that if he can one-up Obama by making peace with North Korea then he doesnāt need to torpedo the JCPOA with Iran, I will take that as a win.
So long as the Korean Peninsula and dog knows what else doesnāt get annhililated in the process.
I agree with you about Trumpās motivations. Nevertheless, he is actually in a good position to pull off a major foreign policy win. If Kim Jong Un is serious about peace with South Korea, and if Trump and his team were able to negotiate reasonably and competently, they should be able to reach an agreement which would make the world safer.
The latter condition (Trump negotiating well) is the thinnest of the three reeds (NK, SK and US) on which the negotiating table rests. I think the odds are heavily against it. But if he actually does it, I can see at least 5 points added to his approval rating, probably more. And there is a case to be made that Trump is actually primarily interested in money and attention, and not so much in war.
It took Nixon to go to China and improve relations with Mao. Iām not holding my breath, but stranger things have, and are happening. I would be happy to do battle with the Republicans on mainly domestic issues, with N Korea off the table, even if that gives Trump an advantage.
Unindicted? Better make the exchange while we still have a qualifying co-conspirator.
Thereās plenty of good people not named Trump working on this - if the world gets movement on North Korea itās fantastic, even if Trump tries to take credit for it (and throws shade at the work done in past administrations by predominantly the same public servants).
So are you going to pay kim with āyourā money or ours?