On Sunday, White House National Security Advisor John Bolton appeared on ABC’s This Week to fire a few missiles at the issue of North Korea nuclear disarmament.
When President Trump attended the landmark summit with North Korea in June, “no more nukes” was a definite theme, complete with a signed agreement whereby Kim Jong-un vowed to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Afterward, Trump tweeted proud as a peacock:
“President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight!”
Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
“There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!”
Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
This made the press shudder: the Singapore meeting and its conclusion were so significant, the media had expressed fear that the President may take “a victory lap” (as covered here). And we suuuure wouldn’t want that.
Those fears were no doubt lessened recently, when satellite images suggested NK was back to its old nuclear-development tricks (please read about that here).
Bolton, for one, says enough is enough with all the lollygaggin’ around:
“I think it’s important that they demonstrate seriousness.”
White House national security adviser John Bolton says it's important that North Korea "demonstrate seriousness" on denuclearization.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo "will be returning to Pyongyang soon for his fourth visit," Bolton adds https://t.co/5DMKk99wXZ pic.twitter.com/CpmylTF4RY
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) August 19, 2018
John emphasized that the East Asian nation “has not taken the steps we feel are necessary to denuclearize.”
I would agree — building nuclear weapons would not be the steps toward not building nuclear weapons that someone may “feel” are necessary.
Bolton indicated a bit of trust in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to see that things get set right:
“Secretary Pompeo has done extraordinary follow-up diplomacy after the Singapore meeting. As I say, we expect that’s going to resume in the near future. … It’s a hard task, I don’t envy him, but he’s worked very hard at it to pursue President Trump’s goal of getting North Korea denuclearized.”
As for the media’s hope that Trump won’t take victory laps, I think it’s reasonable to call that wishful and wasted thinking. Let’s not forget the swagger of our Commander-in-Chief:
Many good conversations with North Korea-it is going well! In the meantime, no Rocket Launches or Nuclear Testing in 8 months. All of Asia is thrilled. Only the Opposition Party, which includes the Fake News, is complaining. If not for me, we would now be at War with North Korea!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 3, 2018
Thank you for reading! For an incredibly compelling video related to the North Korea summit and the potential for world peace, please take a look at the Dennis Rodman interview I featured here. If you missed the relevant RedState links in this article, please go here and here.
For something totally different, please check out my coverage of Melania Trump as Satan, Seinfeld on Roseanne, and Comedy Central & murder.
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