Trump Resort North Korea?

Singapore Summit:  After a day of touring and selfies, North Korea’s dictator Kim Jung Un shook hands with Trump and then sat down to talk about denuclearization, or at least to discuss his view of denuclearization.  First the two leaders met alone, with only translators present, translators that Kim might not have needed since, as evidenced by his first few words to Trump, he speaks some English. The Little Rocket Man must have left Trump with that warm and cozy feeling that the perceptive Trump said he would feel within seconds because following their one on one, Trump stuck around for the more official sit down, one with aides and translators.  Before departing that meeting the two leaders released a one page signed document that Trump described as “very comprehensive” but that the Wall Street Journal described as having “no particulars on how to make the denuclearization process quick, verifiable or irreversible.”  In fact, the bare bones document said less than previous agreements hammered out by Presidents Bush and Clinton.  After the signing Kim Jung Un, who has proven that having nukes is the key to gaining status and recognition, left on a plane provided and funded by China.  Trump stuck around to hold a fairly freewheeling press conference where he lavished praise on Kim, had little to say about his human rights violations, but answered questions focused on the agreement, what was in and what was left out, and addressed relations with some long term allies, like Canada, Trump’s current punching bag.  In response to a question about whether or not US troops would be withdrawn from the Korean peninsula, Trump said that they would be staying, at least for now, but that they were expensive so he hoped to be able to reduce them at some future date.  Then, in an announcement right out of the China-North Korea playbook, he revealed that the US will stop its joint military exercises with South Korea, except that instead of referring to them as exercises, he called them expensive “war games,” a term that the US generally never uses but one that is favored by the North Koreans and China.  The cessation of those exercises is highly significant and represents a major US concession to North Korea and China, a concession that might stress South Korea and Japan.  In addition to providing deterrence, the exercises are key to maintaining US preparation especially given the high turnover of US soldiers and sailors who need practice to maintain any kind of capability.  Ever the real estate magnate, Trump also talked up the opportunities for seaside development on the North Korean coast or alternatively maybe at the engine testing site that Kim promised to destroy.  When asked about the recent G7  summit, Trump again slammed Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau, claiming that it was Trudeau’s nasty comments that had “forced” him to refuse to sign the G7 joint communique, an assertion that continues to baffle many US Senators including Republicans Orrin Hatch, who said that trade representative Peter Navarro should have kept his mouth shut and that the situation could have been handled better and Susan Collins who said “I’m concerned because Canada has been a reliable ally, a close friend, and one of our biggest trading partners.”  As to Larry Kudlow, who had criticized Trudeau for betraying Trump by “walking away and firing bullets, ” the stress of the G7 imbroglio must have gotten to him, moments before Trump walked into his meeting with Kim Jung Un, he tweeted out the news that Kudlow had suffered a heart attack, a stunning tweet that left many of Kudlow’s friends scrambling for details.  At last report, Kudlow was recovering at Walter Reade Medical Center.  The Trump-Kim reality show wouldn’t have been complete without the participation of Dennis Rodman, the former basketball star, Apprentice participant and self-described good friend of both Kim Jung Un and Trump.  Donning his MAGA hat, Rodman, whose trip to Singapore was sponsored and paid for by potcoin.com,  sobbed while saying that he hoped that the Trump-Kim Jung Un meeting was for real and that it wasn’t just a publicity stunt.  Publicity stunt or not, the devil will be in the details, the kind of details included in the last nuclear deal, the one with Iran that Trump managed to diss again during his press conference.  Trump reminded the assembled press corps that he didn’t need nuclear experts because he had once had a conversation with one and had absorbed everything that he needed to know and though the one page agreement that he signed with Kim Jong Un was barebones, the two had agreed to much more, just not in writing which isn’t a problem because he, Trump, has a perfect memory.  Trump promised that Secretary of State Pompeo would immediately start negotiating those “memorized” details with the team from North Korea.  To that end, Pompeo might want to find a copy of the much disparaged Iran agreement to use as a framework, particularly the sections on detection and inspection.  For his part, Trump is on his way home, and no doubt will spend his trip spinning the Singapore Summit into a major victory that once again proves that he is the diplomatic genius that he claims to be.  No doubt his base will buy in to that, his critics and  nuclear experts not so much.   As to Trump’s overall philosophy, one of his aides revealed that the Trump doctrine is “We’re America, Bitch.”  Nice.

Refugees and Voters:  While Trump was in transit, by a vote of 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Ohio’s practice of purging residents from voter rolls after they fail to vote in two or more consecutive federal elections.  Opponents of the purging, mostly Democrats, remain concerned that the ruling will make it easier for States to target urban poor and younger voters for elimination from the voter rolls, an outcome that will disproportionately harm Democratic candidates, the objective of the legislation in the first place.  Trump’s least favorite, but most industrious cabinet member also had a productive day.  Attorney General Sessions reversed Obama era refugee policy by ordering immigration judges to stop granting asylum to people who are victims of gang violence or domestic abuse.  Sessions said that his action was necessary to maintain “the rule of law” because you can’t help everyone, especially the thousands of women and children fleeing abuse.  As to his other policy of showing “zero tolerance” by separating children from parents crossing the border illegally, even when those families are legally pursuing refugee status, it may not be working out all that well or alternatively, may be meeting Sessions expectations.  While the news was more focused on the tragic suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, one panicked “illegal” father joined their ranks, committing suicide last week after being separated from his children.  Over the weekend, Rudy Giuliani suggested that Trump should replace Sessions with former Governor Chris Christie.  Clearly, Sessions is doing his best to stay put in the job he so loves.