Tag: Donald Trump

Here is a media leak if true that provides some insight into the US negotiating strategy in regards to the modifications the US wants in the US-ROK Free Trade Agreement:

In an Oval Office meeting earlier this month, President Trump gave his top trade negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, an Art of the Deal-style coaching session on how to negotiate with the South Koreans.

Trump’s impromptu coaching came in the middle of a pivotal conversation with top officials about whether or not to withdraw from the U.S.-Korean trade deal. Sources familiar with the conversation recounted the exchange for Axios, and the White House did not dispute this account.

A number of senior officials and cabinet secretaries were present for the conversation, including Defense Secretary Mattis, Agriculture Secretary Perdue, and Secretary of State Tillerson. At issue was whether the U.S. would withdraw from the Korean trade deal — an action Trump threatened but still hasn’t done.

“You’ve got 30 days, and if you don’t get concessions then I’m pulling out,” Trump told Lighthizer.

“Ok, well I’ll tell the Koreans they’ve got 30 days,” Lighthizer replied.

“No, no, no,” Trump interjected. “That’s not how you negotiate. You don’t tell them they’ve got 30 days. You tell them, ‘This guy’s so crazy he could pull out any minute.'”

“That’s what you tell them: Any minute,” Trump continued. “And by the way, I might. You guys all need to know I might. You don’t tell them 30 days. If they take 30 days they’ll stretch this out.”  [Axios]

First of all conversations like this should not be leaked out of the White House.  These leaks have to stop. Secondly as the article states the crazy approach only works if people think you will actually follow through with the threat.  That is why Kim Jong-un’s rhetoric is taken so seriously.

It was a great privilege to meet with President Moon of South Korea.
Stay tuned! 🇺🇸🇰🇷#UNGA pic.twitter.com/7xYDO5ddUm

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 21, 2017

Here is Kim Jong-un’s reaction to President Trump’s speech to the UN General Assembly:

Famous for using bombastic, derogatory and often-awkward English slams against enemies, North Korean state media sent people scrambling for dictionaries Friday with a dispatch that quotes leader Kim Jong Un calling President Donald Trump “the mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

The what?

Dotard means a person in a feeble or childish state due to old age. It’s a translation of a Korean word, “neukdari,” which is a derogatory reference to an old person.

It was used in an unusual direct statement from Kim that the Korean Central News Agency transmitted verbatim in response to Trump’s speech at the U.N. this week, in which he mocked Kim as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission,” and said that if the U.S. is “forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”  [Associated Press]

You can read more at the link.  Here is what President Trump had to say via Twitter in response:

Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2017

Wouldn’t it be great if Kim Jong-un got his own Twitter account and him and President Trump could just have a Twitter war instead of going back in forth in the media like this?

I doubt this will be the only response from North Korea after President Trump’s very blunt address given towards North Korea at the UN this week:

North Korea has ridiculed President Donald Trump’s threats over its missile program, comparing his comments during his maiden speech to the United Nations to the sound of a “barking dog.”

Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said the U.S. would “have no choice but to totally destroy” North Korea and earlier this week on Twitter referred to Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.”

North Korea’s delegation left the hall in New York ahead of Trump’s speech, but the country’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, compared Trump’s remarks to the sound of a dog barking in televized remarks to the press in New York.

“There is a saying that goes: ‘Even when dogs bark, the parade goes on’,” Ri said, quoted in Reuters. “If [Trump] was thinking about surprising us with dog-barking sounds then he is clearly dreaming.”

When asked about the “Rocket Man” remarks, Ri quipped “I feel sorry for his aides,” a perceptive comment given the now viral image on social media showing Trump’s Chief of Staff John Kelly covering his eyes in apparent dismay at the president’s speech.  [Newsweek]

You can read more at the link.

It is going to be interesting to see how the Kim regime responds to President Trump’s UN speech because he has made it pretty clear what is coming Pyongyang’s way if they don’t stop their provocations:

President Trump made his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning, telling the gathering of world leaders that if Pyongyang continues its nuclear provocations, the United States “will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”  [Yahoo News]

You can read more at the link as well as watch President Trump’s speech where he also said “Rocket Man was on a suicide mission” in reference to Kim Jong-un.

Loud murmurs in the room as @realDonaldTrump says only choice for United States may be to destroy North Korea pic.twitter.com/GBzotU8qSu

— Jeff Mason (@jeffmason1) September 19, 2017

Kim Jong-un may actually like the nickname Donald Trump has come up for him:

Donald Trump has referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as “rocket man” in a tweet about a conversation with the South Korean President.

The US leader tweeted that he had been speaking with Moon Jae-in about the situation with the secretive communist state, which has launched a series of ballistic missiles in recent weeks and conducted its most powerful nuclear test to date.

“I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night,” Mr Trump wrote. “Asked him how Rocket Man is doing.”

He added that long petrol lines has been forming in North Korea, which he said was “too bad”.  [The Independent]

You can read more at the link, but I doubt whatever long gas lines there are, are effecting anyone in the regime elite.

I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 17, 2017

The Japanese media is claiming that President Trump has called ROK President Moon Jae-in a beggar due to his repeated calls for dialog with the Kim regime:

US President Donald Trump allegedly disparaged South Korean President Moon Jae-in as acting “like a beggar” with his calls for dialogue with North Korpea. The remarks were supposedly made in a telephone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Japanese network Fuji TV reported on Sept. 7.According to the network, Trump made the disparaging remarks about Moon to Abe in a telephone conversation on Aug. 29, after North Korea test-launched a missile that passed through Japanese airspace. Trump was also quoted as asking Abe “not to tell anyone” about the need for military pressure on North Korea.  [Hankyoreh]

You can read more at the link.

Peace in our time with North Korea is just around the corner, US ambassador to North Korea former NBA basketball player Dennis Rodman is on the case:

With tensions brewing between the leaders of the United States and North Korea, one man believes he can help keep the peace.

Former NBA star Dennis Rodman hopes to “straighten things out” between President Donald Trump and supreme leader Kim Jong Un, two men Rodman calls friends.

He appeared on “Good Morning Britain” via satellite from Los Angeles on Wednesday and was asked about his relationship with Kim and the multiple trips to North Korea.

Here is the latest on the follow up actions from the Trump administration after North Korea’s weekend nuclear test:

President Donald Trump left war with North Korea on the table as an option if Pyongyang doesn’t behave after a call with China’s Xi Jinping on Wednesday that the the U.S. leader described as ‘very, very frank.’

Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House for a tax speech outside Washington, ‘We will not be putting up with what’s happening in North Korea.’

War is ‘certainly not our first choice,’ he said in response to a shouted question, ‘but we will see what happens.’

The administration has repeatedly said it is keeping every option on the table as it grapples with the threat from North Korea. The president’s remark is likely to stir new worries, however, that Trump is actually mulling military action. [Daily Mail]

You can read more at the link, but why shouldn’t the President consider all options available to him?  It is pretty clear the Chinese option is the one he is pursuing and giving a chance to work before even contemplating a military response.

As I have said before, despite all the provocations and deadly aggressive behavior over the past few years by Kim Jong-un, some how South Koreans are more fearful of President Trump:

“My firm belief is that war will not happen. The general consensus among my friends is that war won’t break out since the U.S. and China are involved,” Choi Yong-kwan, a 20-year-old college student, said as he read an article on his mobile phone.”But I definitely do feel a sense of growing tension and fear ― it’s their sixth nuclear test and they are on their way to refining their nukes.”

“I’ll leave Korea and head for Canada or something” was the initial response from Park, an elementary school teacher. But as she went on, she dismissed the idea of war. “To be honest I don’t put too much thought into this because it’s always been this way. War does not come easily,” she said. “And we shouldn’t be worried. Fear is what leads to war.”

For the public in the South, North Korea’s provocations are not treated as something new. Although most stuck to this instinct, some added U.S. President Donald Trump as a new, unpredictable and perhaps even more frightening variable.

“This is nothing new. Just another provocation by the North as I see it and it’s been worse before but still did not lead to war. I don’t think any South Korean male who has been in the military is scared,” 29-year-old Yoon Tae-jun from Busan said, adding “But then again I’m not sure this time because of Trump.

“I’m not keeping an eye on this ― maybe this is the problem. But this time, maybe Trump will take some sort of action,” Kwon Suk-in, 27, said. “There must be no war.”  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.