Members of the media have decided President Trump’s negotiations with North Korea have mostly failed, after a Washington Post story said Trump himself is privately complaining that not enough progress is being made.
Publicly, Trump has said discussions with the rogue regime are “going very well,” and said soon after his summit meeting with Kim Jong Un that the world had nothing to fear from North Korea, but the press isn’t buying it.
[More: Trump pushes back on reports: I’m ‘very happy’ about progress with North Korea]
A CNN panel on Monday mocked Trump for not expecting North Korea would be reluctant to denuclearize. “They’ve delivered on what they promised,” CNN host John Berman said. “Which is nothing.”
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour said she’s concluded there’s no progress at all.
“On North Korea, you know, we’ve spoke to American experts and it’s a very long and complicated thing,” she said. “There was no promise and no specifics at that meeting in Singapore… There was no specifics, no promise from North Korea about a timeline or denuclearization or a declaration — just a basic declaration! — of what they have.”
New York Magazine said the negotiations between the two countries are “going about as well as everyone who has ever read a chapter of a book about North Korea expected it to.” That piece said Trump is “slowly realizing it’s North Korea’s reality show, not his.”
Others took a shot at Trump’s self-proclaimed deal-making skills.
“Trump sold himself as an alpha-male and a deal maker,” ABC political analyst Matthew Dowd wrote in a tweet Sunday. “This week proves he is neither … Mexico, Canada, tariffs, North Korea, Russia, and Dems. Has failed at all of it.”
[Also read: General: North Korea still making nuclear bombs]
As I said on @ThisWeekABC Trump sold himself as an alpha-male and a dealmaker. This week proves he is neither. He has weakened America and has had no deals: mexico, Canada, tariffs, North Korea, Russia, and Dems. Has failed at all of it.
— Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) July 22, 2018
Trump entered politics on a lie (birtherism), got elected on a lie (Mexico paying for his wall), took office on a lie (largest inauguration in history), and continues to lie (Russia, North Korea, NATO, immigration, taxes, Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal, etc.) every damn day. pic.twitter.com/SJd48CWucw
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) July 20, 2018
Others noted how Trump vowed “fire and fury” against North Korea if it endangered the U.S. with its nuclear weapons. Trump did not follow through on his threat.
The Iran context is different, but worth recalling: hours after Trump said he’d hit North Korea with “fire and fury” if Kim issued any more threats, Kim issued a threat to attack Guam. Trump did nothing, then a while later started calling him a funny guy with a great personality.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 23, 2018
Remember, also, that President Trump threatened “fire and fury” against North Korea during a period of saber-rattling, only to cool things down with a friendly summit (which led to niceties but not much more).
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 23, 2018
“We need to start thinking about a Plan B now,” urged Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin late last week. “Washington must prepare now for the possibility that diplomacy with Pyongyang could fail.”
Trump won’t admit the North Korea diplomacy isn’t going well. That’s why we need to start thinking about a Plan B now: https://t.co/gQczD9hzxY https://t.co/FOzAbKrbfP
— Josh Rogin (@joshrogin) July 23, 2018
