Opinion: Trump’s hubris and inexperience set up the failure in Hanoi
President Trump speaks during a news conference Thursday after the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Hanoi collapsed without an agreement between the two leaders. By Max Boot Max Boot Columnist covering national security Email Bio Follow Columnist February 28 at 2:59 PM President Trump loves to do the unexpected — to zig when others expect him to zag.
Surprise! Nothing if not unpredictable, Trump instead abruptly walked away from the negotiations. The two sides did not even issue a joint communique, as they did after Singapore. At his news conference, Trump couldn’t resist fawning over Kim, excusing him for the killing of American student Otto Warmbier and insisting that “we’re positioned to do something very special.” But Trump refused to give Kim the sanctions relief he wanted in return for shuttering Yongbyon. .
North Korean officials refused to make concessions in meetings with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy Stephen E. Biegun, in no small part because Trump undercut his own diplomats at every turn. Pompeo had started off demanding “complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization,” with the necessary first step being a full accounting of North Korea’s nuclear and missile capabilities. But instead of ratcheting up the pressure, Trump let the North Koreans off the hook.
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