Trump-Kim summit a step away from war, but light on detail

[LoneLaugher]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Words can't describe the sheer stupidity in your post. Thank God the adults are in charge of the White House again.

Give it a try, genius. Kim has wanted a meeting with the President of the United States for his entire life. Only a moron thinks Trump achieved something by granting him that meeting. Are you a moron?

 

[Wyatt earp]

The liberal fear mongering spin is truly astounding. How many years did Obama work on the failed death to American Iran deal...and I seem to recall Obama and Kerry thanking death to America Iran for releasing our sailors after they humiliated them, with one facing charges.

Typical Trumpbot spinning. Instead of admitting that Trump got basically nothing new...all Trumpbots can do is say 'well, Obama didn't do any better blah blah blah'.

It's like having a dialog with 8 year olds on a school yard.


BTW - I am no fan of Obama either - so your point means nothing to me.

Translation ~ another libtard fence sitter

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

You expect everything to get done in a day???

After a year and half of posturing and many months of talks leading up to the meeting we expect SOMETHING.

Especially considering that Trump promised that he'll resolve NK situation "easily". If it's so easy why is it not done?

I'll grant that the year and a half of posturing was pointless, but the months of talks led to this meeting. That's an important end in and of itself. That's "SOMETHING" as you put it, and ideally with more to come.

 

[Fang]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Words can't describe the sheer stupidity in your post. Thank God the adults are in charge of the White House again.

Give it a try, genius. Kim has wanted a meeting with the President of the United States for his entire life. Only a moron thinks Trump achieved something by granting him that meeting. Are you a moron?

Clearly you're a moron. I guess in your mind Trump should have ignored NK just like the past administrations did until a missile hits our coast. Great strategy!!! Get over the butt-hurt!

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Well I'd say it's mostly an achievement for Moon Jae-in who is the person most responsible for diplomacy with the north, but it's also an achievement for Kim to be the first ruler of North Korea to meet with a sitting U.S. president. But for Trump it's an achievement to reach a point where a president could meet with a North Korean ruler to discuss denuclearization at all and normalized relations with the west.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

You expect everything to get done in a day???

After a year and half of posturing and many months of talks leading up to the meeting we expect SOMETHING.

Especially considering that Trump promised that he'll resolve NK situation "easily". If it's so easy why is it not done?

Hussein and Clinton didn’t get squat done in 16 years. Why are you all of a sudden so demanding to see results?

I feel like there's another president in between those two who also got nothing done.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Well, Trump only humiliated himself once in the meeting, when he tried to make a joke about Kim's weight, so I guess that means that the meeting was a success. Nobody seems to have actually made any concrete commitments that can be verified, but, Kim will almost certainly have many of his sanctions lifted, and the US will suspend war games on the peninsula. I'm not sure that I would call this a "winning deal" for Trump. The fact that Trump did not start a nuclear war sometime during the meeting is a pleasant surprise.

There is no deal yet. This is literally the first step toward a deal. It's pretty standard that symbolic gestures and statements of good will with nothing concrete being done start off diplomatic talks between hostile governments.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Words can't describe the sheer stupidity in your post. Thank God the adults are in charge of the White House again.

Give it a try, genius. Kim has wanted a meeting with the President of the United States for his entire life. Only a moron thinks Trump achieved something by granting him that meeting. Are you a moron?

How do you achieve normalized relations and peace without meeting with them? How has ignoring them made the situation better?

 

[blackhawk]

Dam partisans are funny if Obama had pulled off a summit with North Korea all we would be hearing from the left is how this is great diplomacy and a brilliant example of his leadership shit he would probably get another Nobel Peace Prize. And yes the right would be trashing it and calling it a disaster.

 

[LoneLaugher]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Well I'd say it's mostly an achievement for Moon Jae-in who is the person most responsible for diplomacy with the north, but it's also an achievement for Kim to be the first ruler of North Korea to meet with a sitting U.S. president. But for Trump it's an achievement to reach a point where a president could meet with a North Korean ruler to discuss denuclearization at all and normalized relations with the west.

Nope. It is not an achievement for Trump. Kim would have met him at any time. Please. Let us be serious.

 

[LoneLaugher]

Dam partisans are funny if Obama had pulled off a summit with North Korea all we would be hearing from the left is how this is great diplomacy and a brilliant example of his leadership shit he would probably get another Nobel Peace Prize. And yes the right would be trashing it and calling it a disaster.

Obama could have had a summit with Kim at any time he wanted. He did not do so for a reason.

 

[Hellokitty]

The liberal fear mongering spin is truly astounding. How many years did Obama work on the failed death to American Iran deal...and I seem to recall Obama and Kerry thanking death to America Iran for releasing our sailors after they humiliated them, with one facing charges.

Typical Trumpbot spinning. Instead of admitting that Trump got basically nothing new...all Trumpbots can do is say 'well, Obama didn't do any better blah blah blah'.

It's like having a dialog with 8 year olds on a school yard.


BTW - I am no fan of Obama either - so your point means nothing to me.

TRUMP is just starting maybe you could give him some time before becoming unhinged.

In less than 3 months TRUMP has done more towards deescalating NK than the past 3 administration who have got us to this point.

 

[LoneLaugher]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Words can't describe the sheer stupidity in your post. Thank God the adults are in charge of the White House again.

Give it a try, genius. Kim has wanted a meeting with the President of the United States for his entire life. Only a moron thinks Trump achieved something by granting him that meeting. Are you a moron?

How do you achieve normalized relations and peace without meeting with them? How has ignoring them made the situation better?

Nobody ignored him. Are you in middle school?

Obama reached a strong agreement with Iran without ever giving the Iranian leader a fucking meeting.

That meeting was one of Kim's GOALS.

This is known to everyone except those who view Trump as a strong negotiator.

 

[AntonToo]

You expect everything to get done in a day???

After a year and half of posturing and many months of talks leading up to the meeting we expect SOMETHING.

Especially considering that Trump promised that he'll resolve NK situation "easily". If it's so easy why is it not done?

I'll grant that the year and a half of posturing was pointless, but the months of talks led to this meeting. That's an important end in and of itself. That's "SOMETHING" as you put it, and ideally with more to come.

It is NOTHING in terms of results.

ANY American president could have gotten an unconditional meeting that resolves nothing.

Clinton got a deal. Obama got deal. North Koreans reneged on both.

 

[LoneLaugher]

The liberal fear mongering spin is truly astounding. How many years did Obama work on the failed death to American Iran deal...and I seem to recall Obama and Kerry thanking death to America Iran for releasing our sailors after they humiliated them, with one facing charges.

Typical Trumpbot spinning. Instead of admitting that Trump got basically nothing new...all Trumpbots can do is say 'well, Obama didn't do any better blah blah blah'.

It's like having a dialog with 8 year olds on a school yard.


BTW - I am no fan of Obama either - so your point means nothing to me.

TRUMP is just starting maybe you could give him some time before becoming unhinged.

In less than 3 months TRUMP has done more towards deescalating NK than the past 3 administration who have got us to this point.

Right after he ESCALATED NK. Perfect.

 

[bendog]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

It's still a good thing. Trump is still doing reality tv, so it's not like his fans can compare him to George Marshall, but any move to peace is good.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Well I'd say it's mostly an achievement for Moon Jae-in who is the person most responsible for diplomacy with the north, but it's also an achievement for Kim to be the first ruler of North Korea to meet with a sitting U.S. president. But for Trump it's an achievement to reach a point where a president could meet with a North Korean ruler to discuss denuclearization at all and normalized relations with the west.

Nope. It is not an achievement for Trump. Kim would have met him at any time. Please. Let us be serious.

It's not an achievement for an American president to meet with the North Korean dictator to discuss denuclearization? Somebody needs to get serious.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Dam partisans are funny if Obama had pulled off a summit with North Korea all we would be hearing from the left is how this is great diplomacy and a brilliant example of his leadership shit he would probably get another Nobel Peace Prize. And yes the right would be trashing it and calling it a disaster.

Obama could have had a summit with Kim at any time he wanted. He did not do so for a reason.

Because Kim was never willing to discuss denuclearization with him.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Words can't describe the sheer stupidity in your post. Thank God the adults are in charge of the White House again.

Give it a try, genius. Kim has wanted a meeting with the President of the United States for his entire life. Only a moron thinks Trump achieved something by granting him that meeting. Are you a moron?

How do you achieve normalized relations and peace without meeting with them? How has ignoring them made the situation better?

Nobody ignored him. Are you in middle school?

Obama reached a strong agreement with Iran without ever giving the Iranian leader a fucking meeting.

That meeting was one of Kim's GOALS.

This is known to everyone except those who view Trump as a strong negotiator.

The Kims have been ignored by the west since the U.S. and U.S.S.R. split the Korean peninsula in the sense that they've had no diplomatic relationship. And nobody's denying that Kim wanted a meeting with a sitting American president, and that that's part of a showing of goodwill on Trump's part. Why is that bad though? It's literally a gesture of no substance that can help lead to diplomatic relations. The U.S. loses nothing by doing it, and it should have been done a long time ago for a lot less than Trump is expecting.

 

[LoneLaugher]

'The Singapore summit was textbook Trump, namely, his equation of the personal and chemistry with policy and accomplishment. The problem is less (as so many are saying) the legitimacy the president accorded the North Korean leader, so much as the one-sided outcome that yielded little in the way of substance.

Between the lines: The released statement is almost entirely aspirational. There are no definitions of denuclearization, no specifics as to the requirements of verification, and no timelines. History would suggest that implementation is everything when it comes to North Korea, yet there is nothing firm about what is to be done or when or how.

It is most troubling that Trump agreed to suspend all joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea and mentioned the desirability of removing U.S. troops from the peninsula. That he used the phrase “war games” to describe the exercises only makes it more worrisome. There was no mention in the summit statement of reducing North Korea's conventional military threat to the South. The outcome seems to be nothing so much as the “freeze for freeze” proposal China floated months ago linking North Korean weapon and missile testing with U.S.–South Korean exercises.

It will be extraordinarily hard for the United States to maintain pressure on North Korea given that sanctions will begin to unravel (with China and Russia leading the way) and given that South Korean President Moon has committed to normalizing relations with the North. The only reference to a future process assumes a continuation of bilateral talks. None of this bodes well for future North Korean concessions or for the concerns of American allies.

The bottom line: The good news is that the Singapore summit initiated a diplomatic process with the potential to make a contribution to stability and peace. War seems much more distant than it did just months ago. The bad news is that "potential" is the operative word here, and we are off to an unbalanced start.'

Richard Haass is president of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of “A World in Disarray.”


So - as usual - Trump boasts big, but has little to show for his 'efforts'.

What a loser.

This is literally their first meeting. The fact that it happened at all is a huge achievement for everyone involved. Getting Kim to dismantle his nuclear program overnight was always a straw man.

How is it an achievement for Trump to have met with Kim?

Well I'd say it's mostly an achievement for Moon Jae-in who is the person most responsible for diplomacy with the north, but it's also an achievement for Kim to be the first ruler of North Korea to meet with a sitting U.S. president. But for Trump it's an achievement to reach a point where a president could meet with a North Korean ruler to discuss denuclearization at all and normalized relations with the west.

Nope. It is not an achievement for Trump. Kim would have met him at any time. Please. Let us be serious.

It's not an achievement for an American president to meet with the North Korean dictator to discuss denuclearization? Somebody needs to get serious.

No. Not at all. It could have happened at any time during the past 50 years. It was a CONCESSION.