Promised a Christmas surprise by 35-year-old North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, 73-year-old President Donald Trump celebrated Christmas at his Florida Mar-a-Lago Golf resort without incident. Kim decided to defer an nuclear or ballistic missile launches to sometime in a near future, where it’s more certain than not that it will happen. For the time being, Americans enjoyed their Christmas holiday without incident, in part due to Trump’s rapport with Kim. While Democrats complain that no progress has been made on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, it’s clear that tensions are less than when Trump and Kim trade barbs across the Pacific Ocean. Things got so bad in 2017 that North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Hong-ho said Sept. 23, 2017 at the U.N. that it was “inevitable” North Korean missiles would hit the U.S. Since that time, Trump and Kim have met three times, first in Singapore, Malaysia June 12, 2018, next in Hanoi, Vietnam Feb. 27-28, 2018, then in the DMZ June 30, making Trump the first U.S. president to visit North Korea.
Democrats call Trump’s North Korea policy a failure because he got no agreement from Kim to dismantle his nukes and ballistic missiles. Trump always wanted to create more good will and rapport, to build on past mistakes but never thought he could get Kim to end 40 years of nukes and ballistic missile technology. Kim’s been frustrated after two summits and one impromptu meeting, Trump has not agreed to lift sanctions, limiting Kim’s access to petroleum and other commodities. Trump had to contend lately with former National Security Advisor John Bolton calling his North Korea policy a failure. Trump fired Bolton Sept. 10 after urging Trump to send U.S. troops to Venezuela to topple Nicolas Maduro’s regime. Bolton knew that Russia placed military advisers in Caracas to discourage Trump for making such a move. Trump go fed up with opposition Leader Juan Guaido who promised he had widespread national support to topple Maduro.
Trump reluctantly replaced former National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn after he resigned Feb. 13, 2017 after wiretapped conversations with former Russian Amb. Sergei Kislyack confirmed contacts during-and-after the 2016 campaign. Flynn’s ouster, then former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions Nov. 7, 2018 resigns, all relate to the FBI counterintelligence investigation of the Trump campaign. Flynn and Sessions were “unmasked” by former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, claiming she had probable cause. Department of Justice Inspector General {IG] Michael Horowitz found Dec. 9, 17 instances of sloppiness or otherwise not following procedure for using the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act [FISA] Court to investigate Trump campaign officials. Atty. Gen. William Barr told Fox News Martha McCallum today that he didn’t think FBI mistakes were random or accidental, implying that former FBI Director James Comey acted improperly.
Barr appointed U.S. Atty. John Durham to look into the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation. If Durham finds anything improper, he’ll likely recommend indicting Comey and other FBI officials participating in FISA abuses. Trump believes he was illegally wiretapped by the FBI during the campaign, all based on fake probable cause from Hillary’s “dossier,” showing that he colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election. Mueller found nothing illegal by Trump or anyone in his campaign when it came to Russian collusion. Democrats hoped Mueller would have found impeachable offenses, instead concocting Trump’s July 25 conversation with Urkainian President Voldymyr Zelsensky. Democrats claim a “whistleblower” came forward Sept. 25 reporting that Trump tried to extort dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for $391 in military aid. Yet Schiff said he had no contact with the “whistleblower,” only later admitting he had contact before Sept. 25.
Republicans want to question the “whistleblower,” seeking to find out whether or not Schiff actually wrote the complaint. Schumer demanded Dec. 22 that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) allow Democrats new witnesses and documents in the upcoming impeachment trial. With impeachment dominating the headlines, it’s no wonder Trump hasn’t had more time to deal with North Korea. Yet his critics, especially Bolton, criticize Trump for making too little progress on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. When you consider that North Korea no longer threatens the U.S. with nuclear war, that’s progress. Whether Kim ever gives up his nukes and ballistic missiles in anyone’s guess. IF Trump could get a peace treaty with North Korea that would go a long way in improving U.S. national security. Ending the 67-year-old Korean War would be a positive step forward rather than insisting Kim disarm his nukes and ballistic missiles.
Trump can’t discharge his presidential duties under the dark cloud of impeachment. With Pelosi refusing to turn over the articles of impeachment to the Senate, Trump continues to sit on the fence when it comes to foreign policy. Once the drama ends after the first of the year, Pelosi will send the articles to McConnell to conduct what promises to me a short impeachment trial. Pelosi wants to save face, knowing she lacks the votes to convict Trump in the Senate. Even with more witnesses and new documents, Republicans aren’t expected to convict Trump because they believe he did nothing impeachable. Pelosi, Schiff and Nadler have his a bick-wall in he Senate, accusing McConnell of bias favoring Trump. Nothing was more biased than spending 12 weeks conducting impeachment proceedings, not letting Republicans refute the charges. Keeping the impeachment hearings going endangers U.S. national security, distracting Trump from pressing foreign policy duties.
