The notices are in, and they’re brutal. Donald Trump’s nascent North Korea policy—announcing the end of “strategic patience” (Barack Obama’s code for sitting around and doing nothing about the North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons), leaning on China to rein in Pyongyang, strengthening sanctions, and issuing ambiguous threats about possible military strikes—is being panned by American foreign policy experts and journalists.

The New York Times bemoans Trump’s “recklessness.” Ishaan Tharoor, a Washington Post blogger with the modest remit of covering the entire world, warns of the “dangers” of Trump’s policies. Even Ian Buruma, an expert on Dutch politics most famous for his bizarre attacks on the exceptionally brave Ayaan Hirsi Ali, has weighed in on Trump’s approach to North Korea: Apparently it “plays into North Korea’s hands.”