Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un against lying to President Trump because Graham knows how strong a negotiator the president is, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Friday.
“I think Lindsey Graham knows President Trump is one of the best negotiators,” Sanders told reporters at the White House on Friday.
Graham had cautioned Kim not to “try to play” Trump in a planned meeting between the two leaders later this year.
“If you do that, it will be the end of you — and your regime,” Graham said in a statement on Thursday shortly after the White House announced Trump had accepted Kim’s invitation to talk face-to-face.
Kim’s invitation came through a South Korean delegation after North and South Korea resumed a dialogue for the first time in years. The White House claimed Trump would not set a date and time for the meeting until the administration sees “concrete and verifiable action” from Pyongyang to back up Kim’s promise to end its nuclear weapons program.
Sanders noted Graham “has been on the other side [of negotiating with Trump] and certainly knows the capabilities of the president.”
She touted Trump’s skills as a “dealmaker” and pointed to Graham’s statement as evidence that the president’s negotiating talent is widely known.
