Tag: Donald Trump

Here is the latest headline from John Bolton’s book:

U.S. President Donald Trump didn’t want South Korean President Moon Jae-in to join him during his third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) in June 2019, according to John Bolton, the former U.S. national security adviser, in his memoir.    
   
“The Room Where It Happened,” the Bolton memoir set to be published Tuesday, details the three Kim-Trump meetings and the considerable amount of energy expended by Bolton to thwart any U.S. concessions to North Korea.  
   
In a tweet on June 28, 2019, Trump — who was on an official trip to Japan and Korea — offered to shake hands and say hello with North Korean leader Kim, which led to the impromptu meeting days later on June 30 in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom. This marked the first time a sitting U.S. president stepped onto North Korean soil, and took place during Trump’s visit to Seoul for a summit with Moon.    
   
According to Bolton, “Trump wanted Moon nowhere around, but Moon was determined to be present, making it a trilateral meeting if he could.” Bolton had “entertained the faint hope that this dispute with Moon could tank the whole thing, because it was certain Kim didn’t want Moon around.” 

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

It looks like North Korea wants to stay in the headlines and dump on Trump like everyone else it seems like now a days:

North Korea on Friday again vowed to build up its military force to counter what it perceives as U.S. threats and said there would be little reason for a personal relationship between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump if Washington persists with sanctions and pressure.

On the two-year anniversary of the leaders’ first summit, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Son Gwon said the North would never again gift Trump with high-profile meetings and concessions he could boast as foreign policy achievements unless it gets something substantial in return.

“The question is whether there will be a need to keep holding hands shaken in Singapore, as we see that there is nothing of factual improvement to be made in the DPRK-U.S. relations simply by maintaining personal relations between our supreme leadership and the U.S. President,” Ri said in a statement carried by state media, referring to North Korea by its formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Associated Press

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest from President Trump on the health of Kim Jong-un:

President Trump was asked about the widespread speculation surrounding the health of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a White House news conference on the coronavirus on Monday. Trump suggested he knew “exactly” how Kim is doing, but declined to reveal that information. 

“Yes I do have a very good idea, but I can’t talk about it now,” said Trump when he was asked to provide an update on Kim’s condition. “I just wish him well.”

Yahoo News

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the Kim Jong-un health watch:

 U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he does not know about the health condition of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un but hopes he is doing well amid unconfirmed reports that the young leader may be seriously ill.

“These are reports that came out, and we don’t know. We don’t know,” Trump said at a White House coronavirus press briefing. “I can only say this: I wish him well. Because if he is in the kind of condition that the reports say, that the news is saying, that’s a very serious condition, as you know, but I wish him well.”

Trump said he doesn’t place “too much credence” in any report put out by CNN. Citing an unidentified U.S. official, CNN first reported that the U.S. is looking into intelligence that Kim is in “grave danger” after a surgery.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

I think President Trump’s comments show how issues with South Korea are on the top of his mind:

President Donald Trump is apparently not a fan of ”Parasite,” his biggest complaint being that the movie was made in South Korea.

Trump started talking about the Academy Awards during a campaign rally in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Thursday. Parasite was named best picture, becoming the first non-English-language film to get the top honor.

”What the hell was that all about?” Trump said. ”We’ve got enough problems with South Korea with trade. On top of that, they give them best movie of the year. Was it good? I don’t know.”

Neon, the U.S. distributor for the subtitled film, shot back on Twitter. ”Understandable. He can’t read,” Neon tweeted.

The audience booed when Trump mentioned the Academy Awards and then cheered when he said: ”Can we get like ”Gone with the Wind’ back please? ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ so many great movies.”

Korea Times

Let me translate Trump for people that don’t understand him. It appears he has not even seen the movie; what he is complaining about is that he believes Hollywood should be making better American made movies instead of promoting foreign made movies during the Academy Awards. This is all consistent with Trump’s America first rhetoric he was been advocating for years on.

I am sure President Trump understands this, but if a deal is not made the North Koreans will very likely launch provocations next year to pressure the Trump administration into a deal:

 U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he doesn’t think North Korea will engage in hostile acts and interfere with the upcoming U.S. presidential election, an apparent warning that the communist nation shouldn’t undertake provocations that could hurt his reelection chances.

“I’d be surprised if North Korea acted hostilely,” Trump was quoted as telling reporters at the White House. “He knows I have an election coming up. I don’t think he wants to interfere with that. But we’ll have to see.”

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

This is just another example of North Korea trying to create more tension prior to the end of the year in hopes of getting a deal with the Trump administration:

The lack of courtesy shown to Kim had “prompted the waves of hatred of our people against the U.S. and the Americans and they are getting higher and higher”, Choe said.

“It would be fortunate” if Trump’s remarks were simply “an instantaneous verbal lapse, but the matter becomes different if they were a planned provocation that deliberately targeted us”, she said. 

North Korea would watch closely to see if Trump repeated the comments, Choe said. 

“If any language and expressions stoking the atmosphere of confrontation are used once again on purpose at a crucial moment as now, that must really be diagnosed as the relapse of the dotage of a dotard,” she concluded. 

Trump said on Tuesday he still had confidence in the North Korean leader but noted that Kim “likes sending rockets up”. 

“…That’s why I call him Rocket Man,” Trump told reporters at a NATO meeting in London.

Reuters

The North Koreans have never been known for their sense of humor, but clearly the President was trying to be funny.

Like I said before, President Trump does not respond well to threats:

U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks about the possibility of using force against North Korea appears intended to warn against possible provocations ahead of the year-end deadline the regime set for Washington to show flexibility in their deadlocked nuclear talks, analysts said Wednesday.

Trump made the threat of military action on Tuesday, just hours after the North reiterated that the deadline is approaching and warned that it is entirely up to Washington what “Christmas gift” it wants to get.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has set the deadline for Washington to come up with an acceptable proposal to move forward the nuclear negotiations, warning that Pyongyang could otherwise take a “new way.”

“Now we have the most powerful military we’ve ever had and we’re by far the most powerful country in the world,” Trump told reporters during his trip to London to attend a meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization leaders.

“And, hopefully, we don’t have to use it, but if we do, we’ll use it. If we have to, we’ll do it,” he added.

Yonhap

You can read more at he link, but is everyone ready for an interesting 2020?