Tag: Donald Trump

We all know that President Trump wants South Korea to pay more for the US-ROK alliance upkeep. This is nothing new, however this guy needs to sell a book which of course means coming up with a quote that make Trump look crazy. When are people going to learn not to take President Trump’s outbursts literally as he wanting $60 billion a year from South Korea. From the quote, I read it as he wants South Korea to pay much more for US-ROK alliance upkeep fees and just threw out a big number to make his point:

 U.S. President Donald Trump called South Korea a “major abuser” and claimed the U.S. ally should pay US$60 billion a year for the stationing of American troops in the country, according to a memoir published Tuesday.

Guy Snodgrass, former chief speechwriter and communications director to former U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, made the revelation in his new book, “Holding the Line: Inside Trump’s Pentagon with Secretary Mattis,” as he recounted two meetings between Trump and his national security team at the Pentagon in July 2017 and January 2018.

According to Snodgrass, Trump repeatedly questioned the value of stationing U.S. troops overseas and asked top officials, including then-Defense Secretary Mattis and then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whether the troops could be withdrawn from countries such as South Korea, Japan and Germany.

“It’s a losing deal!” Trump was quoted as saying in January 2018. “If (South Korea) paid us $60 billion a year to keep our troops overseas, then it’s an okay deal.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest reading of the tea leaves in regards to North Korea denuclearization talks:

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said there would be a “major rebuild” of North Korea at some point, and he referred to some “very interesting information” he recently obtained in regard to the country.

It was unclear whether the remark, delivered near the end of a cabinet meeting, alluded to some progress in Washington’s stalled denuclearization negotiations with Pyongyang or whether it could be another of Trump’s idiosyncratic ideas of striking an ultimate deal with the regime.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link, but apparently an offer the Trump administration made at the last talks was to help North Korea complete their massive tourism project between Wonsan and Kalma on the country’s east coast. The project has been delayed by the sanctions. If anyone knows how to complete a resort project it would be Trump. I guess we will see what happens in the coming months on this offer.

It appears that the ROK strategy for not paying more for USFK cost sharing is to imply that they may reduce their purchase of U.S. weapons if they pay more:

President Moon Jae-in outlined to U.S. President Donald Trump Korea’s plans to purchase many American weapons over the next three years as they held a summit in New York on Monday.

A Blue House official told reporters that Moon during the talks briefed Trump on Seoul’s weapons purchases over the past decade and “also plans for our purchases for the next three years.”

Moon is expected to have explained to Trump Seoul’s purchase of American weapons systems between 2009 and 2018. This is likely to have included the acquisition of 40 F-35A Lockheed Martin stealth fighters and three American-made Aegis combat systems, worth some $6.279 billion, according to data by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).

During the 10-year time frame, Korea ranked as the fourth-largest U.S. weapons importer, following Saudi Arabia, Australia and the United Arab Emirates, according to Sipri data.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

I don’t think anyone doubts North Korea’s economic potential, the real question is if their economic potential can be reached and the Kim regime still remains in power:

U.S. President Donald Trump again touted North Korea’s “tremendous” economic potential on Monday, seemingly urging the regime to return to denuclearization talks.

The negotiations have yet to resume despite Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s agreement to do so within several weeks after their impromptu meeting on the inter-Korean border on June 30.

“I think that North Korea has tremendous economic potential, and I think that Kim Jong-un sees that,” Trump said at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the conclusion of a Group of Seven summit in Biarritz, France.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If the New York Times report is to believed, there are members of the Trump administration advocating for a “freeze deal” which is really the first steps towards a “pretend denuclearization” deal with North Korea:

Washington’s goal in talks with North Korea remains its “final, fully verified denuclearization,” the U.S. State Department said Monday, denying speculation that the Trump administration was considering an incremental deal to freeze Pyongyang’s nuclear activity. 

A spokesman gave the response to a question from Yonhap on a New York Times report on Monday that said a splinter was widening within the administration over how to approach Pyongyang. The article said senior diplomatic officials are leaning towards an incremental approach as negotiations between the two countries resume.

The State Department’s Special Representative for North Korea Policy, Stephen Biegun, also denied the report, calling it “pure speculation.” 

According to the piece, U.S. officials are discussing a plan that could involve North Korea first closing down nuclear facilities capable of producing fissile material, and in return the United States could provide sanctions relief.  

This, in effect, would resemble the proposal that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un brought to his second summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, last February. Kim offered to shut down the Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for relief from five sets of economic sanctions imposed by the United States.

Under this possible deal for Yongbyon – or a larger one reportedly being considered by U.S. officials that would freeze activity at the nearby Kangson uranium facility as well – the North would no longer produce additional nuclear material, but none of its existing nuclear weapons or stockpiles would be touched. While this would imply de facto acceptance of North Korea’s status as a nuclear state, it could serve as an initial step toward full denuclearization in the future, the report said.

Joong Ang Ilbo

National Security Advisor John Bolton did not mince worlds on what he thought of the New York Times report:

I read this NYT story with curiosity. Neither the NSC staff nor I have discussed or heard of any desire to “settle for a nuclear freeze by NK.” This was a reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the President. There should be consequences. https://t.co/TTRPQkksza

— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) July 1, 2019

It is pretty clear that the New York Times is doing what they can to create strife within President Trump’s foreign policy team.

This news should not be a surprise to anyone:

Democratic lawmakers in the United States, including some running for the White House, say there’s little in President Donald Trump’s diplomatic track to convince them that his meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un (gihm jung oon) may lead to a nuclear breakthrough.

Trump is coming under criticism for what Democrats see as his affinity for authoritarian leaders such as Kim and they are skeptical that the Trump-Kim sit-down at the Demilitarized Zone may amount to anything more than a photo opportunity.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says “dictators seem to get elevated and people who believe in democracy not.”

Former Obama Housing Secretary Julian Castro, a presidential candidate, wonders why Trump appears keen to raise Kim’s profile when, according to Castro, Kim hasn’t abided by past commitments about the North’s weapons programs.

And Sen. Bernie Sanders, also a 2020 candidate, says he’s not opposed to sitting down with America’s adversaries, but he tells ABC’s “This Week” that “we need real diplomacy” and he hasn’t seen that under Trump

Associated Press

This is coming from the people who supported President Obama when he flew to Cuba with his whole family to hang out with the dictators there. I doubt President Trump’s engagement with North Korea is going to get them to denuclearize, but the claims from his critics sound more like “since Trump is for it, I must be against it” instead of any reasoned policy position.

I would think such a visit would only happen after a major denuclearization deal is struck. Though I am extremely skeptical of Kim ever fully denuclearizing, if he does commit to a real denuclearization deal he should be hosted at the White House:

U.S. President Donald Trump invited North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un to Washington, D.C., when the two leaders met at the Panmunjom truce village on Sunday. 

“I did,” Trump said when asked if he extended the invitation for Kim to come to the White House. “Actually, at some point it will all happen. When it all works out, at some point it will all happen.” 

Earlier he said, “I would invite him right now to the White House,” as the two leaders headed to Freedom House, on the southern side of the village, before holding private talks.

It was not clear if Kim accepted the offer. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I wonder if President Trump asked Ambassador Harris about that mustache?