Trump Again Praises Kim, Jung-un: Wants Second Confab Date & Place TBA

Good grief: He didn’t really say and propose that did he

(Old stink eye from Bolton noted)

Parts of LA TIMES story here:

Preparations are underway for a second face-to-face meeting between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, the White House says despite the lack of any clear movement toward denuclearization three months after their summit in Singapore.

Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders told reporters that the White House had received a letter from Kim requesting a meeting. She described the letter as “very warm, very positive.” She cited the release of three American detainees in May, the return in July of possible American remains from the 1950-53 Korean War and a major military parade recently in Pyongyang that did not include any ballistic missiles for the first time in more than a year. The parade, she said, marked “one of the first times they have had a parade where they weren’t highlighting their nuclear arsenal. We consider that an act of good faith.” 

Sanders would not say how quickly or where a second summit might take place, or if it is likely before the November 6 midterm election.

One potential possibility is on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Trump is scheduled to address the gathering on September 25. At this point Kim is not scheduled to attend that session.

The announcement marks an about-face by Trump since August 24, when he complained of a lack of “sufficient progress” and abruptly canceled a scheduled visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Pompeo and a new U.S. envoy to the stalled disarmament talks.

Despite the lack of any demonstrable progress since then, Trump is moving ahead with preparations for a second summit based on what Sanders described as good faith efforts by Kim.

A day after Trump met with Kim in Singapore on June 12, he declared that North Korea was “no longer a nuclear threat” even though the two leaders produced only a brief joint statement, with no timetable or specifics, about denuclearization. 

The two sides later differed about what the vaguely worded agreement meant.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the UN nuclear watchdog agency – reported last month that North Korea was continuing to develop its nuclear weapons, and expressed “grave concern.”

I note: All that is despite Trump statements otherwise about progress…!!!

Other skeptics also weighed like this from Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst on the Koreas who is a fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who said: “It is premature to hold another summit meeting without any evidence of North Korean commitment to abandon its nuclear arsenal.”

Summary: Trump ordered a halt to the annual U.S. military exercises in and with South Korean military forces as a confidence-building measure while Trump also called the long-planned exercises “provocative and war games,” which is the precise lingo that Pyongyang uses in their tons of anti-American propaganda. Examples from their playbook:

Rip Old Glory; Bomb the Capital; Stomp on U.S. Forces
[click image for larger view]

Trump after ordering Pompeo to scrub his visit to Pyongyang last month toggled back last week after a new book (“Fear”) by famed journalist Bob Woodward that portrayed the White House in perpetual chaos came and instead Trump pointed to validation from a distant admirer tweeting (naturally a tweet): “Kim Jong-Un of North Korea proclaims “unwavering faith” in President Trump. Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”

My 2 cents: Ho Lee Sheet – praising Kim and North Korea while basting Americans who work day and night to keep us safe and before that praising Vladimir Putin in Helsinki – and yet Trump loyalists say: “Great job Mr. President, keep it up.”

Wow – loss of words to say the least.

More to come I am sure – wait and see – this reality show has months to run, the renewal of it is uncertain at this point –that is up to S/C Mueller in the end.

Thanks for stopping by.