Completing the once thought unthinkable summit, 71-year-old President Donald Trump and 35-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un upended conventional wisdom, doing what no other U.S. president could do since the July 27, 1953 end of the Korean War. Trump’s media critics are already blasting the joint communique signed by Trump and Kim as lacking substance, despite knowing the unprecedented territory for both leaders. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Trump’s biggest critic on Capitol Hill, slammed the agreement for lacking substance. After a first meeting, what did Schumer or any of Trump’s critics expect? Trump had Kim sign a joint communiqué agreeing that U.S. and North Korean diplomats would work on the hard diplomacy of giving Kim security guarantees in exchange for disarming his nuke and ballistic missiles stockpile.
It’s easy for backseat drivers to give orders and dictate terms but only Trump knew what it took to get Kim to the peace table. World leaders and global press are so dumbfounded that Trump pulled off what most viewed as impossible. Now the press complains about what wasn’t accomplished, after Trump confessed he hadn’t slept in at least 24 hours to pull off the agreement. No one from the White House, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Security Adviser John Bolton or Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly, expected to get all U.S. demands satisfied in one five-hour meeting. Yet if you listened to Trump Democrat or media critics, you’d think the summit was utter failure. That’s certainly not the view of South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Japanese President Shinzo Abe or any other world leader. European Union leaders, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, welcomed Trump’s efforts.
.Trump praised Kim “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for the North Korean people,” admitting, after meeting with Kim, he wanted something better for his people. Allied with communist allies Russia and China since the end of the Korean War, Kim knows all too well the stark contrasts between the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [DPRK] and South Korea, now the 12th ranked economic power in the world. Sixty-Five years of Stalinist rule has assured the Kim dynasty’s totalitarian rule but left North Korea in economic shambles. Trump has a powerful message to bring Kim around. Give up your Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles [ICBMs], join the world community to develop your country like South Korea with U.S. technology and economic assistance. When all is said-and-done, Trump made Kim an offer he couldn’t refuse—for himself and his people.
Asking for more specifics and details following the June 11 joint-communique, Democrats and the U.S. press look to score points against Trump, not recognize that progress will come in measured steps. No one, certainly not Trump, expected Kim to disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles without concrete security guarantees. Trump warned his Cabinet before Singapore to stop making incendiary remarks, like comparing Kim to Libya’s Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has offered the DPRK unprecedented security guarantees to begin the orderly process of dismantling its nuke and ballistic missile arsenal. Trump said after the summit he would honor Kim’s request to stop U.S.-South Korean war games, something that provoked Pyongyang. No discussion was made between Kim and Trump about removing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Demanding specifics of what Kim would do to dismantle his nuke and ballistic missile program, the Democrat-friendly press wants to discredit Trump’s summit with Kim. Calling his relationship with Kim “very good,” Trump slammed skeptics, believing Kim was sincere in meeting his promise to Moon to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. Trump and Kim promised, in the joint-communique, to “build a lasting and stable peace regime,” paving the way for ending the Korean War by signing a peace treaty. Promising economic development much like what the U.S. did for South Korea in 1953, Trump appealed to Kim’s desire to help his people. Wracked by crippling economic sanctions with poverty and starvation, the DPRK looks for a new beginning, even if it means giving up its nukes and ICBMs. Recognizing his bold step forward, Kim admitted the summit seemed like a science fiction movie.
Trump and Kim’s summit opened the door for meaningful dialogue and concrete negotiations. Trump made it clear to Kim that there would be no sanctions relief until he allowed U.N. weapons inspectors an opportunity to dismantle his nukes and long-range ballistic missiles. When you consider the avalanche of criticism from the Democrat-friendly press, you’d think something horrible took place. By anyone’s metrics, Trump’s summit with Kim was a major breakthrough, starting the painstaking diplomatic process to make a world a safer place. When Trump and Kim were hurling insults at each other last year, the world begged for diplomacy, led by German Chancellor Angel Merkel. Now that the unthinkable took place, it’s time Trump’s critics to give him some credit. Meeting face-to-face with Kim proved that Trump’s willing to go the extra mile for peace.
