Evidently, President Kim Jong-un of North Korea is feeling like a woman scorned. Never mind that he behaved throughout his affair with President Trump like a shrew – too uptight to screw.
North Korea accused the U.S. of breaking promises it made at a historic summit two years ago, saying the Trump administration had turned dreams for peace into “a dark nightmare” and dashed hopes for denuclearization.
Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said in a message to mark the second anniversary of the then-unprecedented June 12, 2018, meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump that the U.S. had broken its word, adding that North Korea saw no benefit in engaging with Washington.
(Bloomberg, June 12, 2020)
And this is breaking news…?
The title to my 2018 commentary on their summit alone spoke volumes: “Trump Strikes Potemkin Nuclear Deal with Kim Jong-un.” The first two paragraphs presaged all that Bloomberg is reporting today
I compared Trump’s summit with Kim to Chamberlain’s infamous meeting with Hitler. Like Chamberlain’s ‘peace in our time,’ Trump’s promise that everyone could ‘sleep well tonight’ would live in infamy—because Kim will never end his nuclear program. And it was manifest folly to hail Trump for diffusing fears he himself ignited with juvenile insults like ‘Rocket Man’ and threats of ‘fire and fury.'”
I even followed up with commentaries warning of this inevitable nuclear fallout. For example, I refer you to
- “Trump Loves Kim. Kim Loves Nukes. And Never the Twain Shall Greet.” October 1, 2018
- “Trump Is So Self-Absorbed, He Thinks Kim Is Equally Susceptible to Idle Flattery,” February 28, 2019
What can I say, except I told you so …
But iPINIONS feel constrained to remind Trump’s supporters of two interrelated points:
- He withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal Obama negotiated with the leaders of Iran. This, despite all other major nuclear powers signing onto that deal and the IAEA affirming Iran’s compliance (in spirit and to the letter).
- He promised that his genius in the Art of the Deal would not only lead to a great nuclear deal with North Korea but compel Iran to enter a new nuclear deal on his terms.
Yet, like every area of his foreign policy, Trump has nuclear diplomacy between the United States and these two countries now looking like a china shop where a bull in heat has been running amok.
Related commentaries:
nuclear fallout…
Iran nuclear deal… Trump and Kim in love…
Legacy Note: With over 5,600 posts spanning 20 years, I am easily the most prolific blogger on the most eclectic array of topics on the web. That makes The iPINIONS Journal an unparalleled archive of informed political and cultural commentary. Visit the ARCHIVES section in the sidebar or search by topic. You won’t find a more consistent, independent voice on world affairs.

