After a contentioous G7 summit in La Malbai, Quebec, 71-year-old President Donald Trump jets to Singapore, Malaysia to summit with 33-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Trump stirred the pot at the G7, urging the world’s top economic powers to consider letting Russian President Vladimir Putin back in. Russia was ejected from the G7 March 24, 2014 after Putin ordered the Russian army to invade Crimea March 1, 2014. Trump wants to put the past behind, especially knowing that Putin has no intent of returning Crimea to Ukraine anytime soon. All economic sanctions, including evicting Russia from the G8, stemmed from Putin’s invasion of Crimea. Putin justified his invasion, less than a week after the end of the Sochi Winter Olympics. Putin sat helplessly by while a CIA-backed Western coup toppled Kremlin-backed Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovich Feb. 22, 2014.
What former President Barack Obama didn’t get was the Putin was well-justified invading Crimea after a CIA-backed coup toppled the duly elected, Kremlin-backed Yanukovich. Trump irked Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau and other European leaders suggesting that Putin should have a seat at the G7 table. Trump complained at the G7 about unfair trade policies, asking to renegotiate old trade agreements. Leaving the G7 early, Trump pivoted to the June 12 Singapore summit, hoping to get a peace treaty with North Korea. Since the Korea War ended July 27, 1953, there’s been no peace treaty only an armistice. Trump insisted before that any summit to take place Kim must be willing to disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump now heads to Singapore to get a peace treaty before demanding that Kim disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles.
Trump said he’s looking for a lasting peace in North Korea, something that will benefit the world. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was so worried about a nuclear conflict last year, she offered herself as a peace mediator between the U.S. and North Korea. Making less demands on Kim to disarm opens the door for a peace deal that should gradually phase out North Korea’s nukes and ballistic missiles. “It’s a one-time shot, and I think it’s going to work out very well,” said Trump. “We’re going in with a very positive spirit,” despite past disappointments with past summits. Putin told Trump that if he wants an agreement with North Korea that works, he needs to offer Kim security guarantees. In exchange for a peace treaty, Trump wants to offer Kim economic development assistance, opening North Korea to American and European business.
Unlike his grandfather Kim Il-sung or father Kim Jong-ill that isolated North Korea from the international community, Kim Jong-un shows signs of wanting the Stalinist state to join the global prosperity. Nowhere on the planet is the contrast more glaring than between North and South Korea. Sixty-Five years after the Korean War, South Korea has become one of the world’s strongest economic powers, ranked 12th right behind the Russian Federation, with a Gross Domestic Product of nearly $1.9 trillion. Kim’s Stalinist regime has a GDP of $13 billion, ranked 130th, just below Madagascar at $12.6 billion. Trump’s offering Kim an offer he can’t refuse, giving up his nukes and ballistic missiles for economic development. Answering his skeptics, Trump sounded an optimistic tone, thinking Kim is ready to make a deal for North Korea in Singapore.
Calling for nothing short of complete denuclearization, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said anything less would be a failure for Trump. Trump sees the summit as an opportunity to build rapport between the two nations. “The minimum would be a relationship,” said Trump. “You start at least a dialogue. I’d like to accomplish more than that, but at a minimum, we will have met each other. Seen each other. Hopefully, we will have liked each other,” Trump said, refuting Schumer’s metric for success. Worried about the upcoming Midterm elections, Schumer’s rooting for Trump to fail to help Democrats retake Congress in the fall. Forget about nuclear war or world peace, Schumer wants Trump to fail to help Democrats in the fall. Regardless of Democrats looking for failure, Trump sees nothing but an upside for the U.S. meeting with Kim Jong-un
Tamping down expectations about nuclear disarmament, Trump looks for a peace treaty, offering Kim not only security guarantees but U.S. economic assistance. Unlike other countries that have taken advantage of U.S. trade agreements, Trump wants an agreement with North Korea that pays real dividends for the U.S. Scaling down U.S. demands helps assure that the summit will get concrete results toward a peace treaty. Trump wants Kim to see that he’s getting the best deal possible for North Korea to guarantee his continued rule in Pyongyang. Kim has long worried about a U.S. invasion, insisting his nukes and ballistic missiles were designed to prevent a U.S.-South Korea takeover. Whether conducting global diplomacy or setting domestic policy, Trump’s proven he’s his own man with his own agenda, not a conformist looking for approval at home or abroad.
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