President Trump took a bold risk holding a summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. In this divided era, critics abound, including those saying people on the Right are hypocrites for supporting Trump’s North Korea overture but not former President Barack Obama’s Iran overture.
Trump’s North Korean deal, however, is far superior to Obama’s Iran Deal.
First, to take the position that if you disliked Obama dealing with Iran you have to dislike Trump’s dealing with North Korea is to declare all “deals” equal and, therefore, that all deals should be treated the same. That is very shallow commentary and dead wrong.
We now know Obama’s Iran deal was done secretively and we know why. The Obama administration lied about the Iran deal and its side deals. Obama’s deal allowed Iran to exchange money in what may have been an illegal manner. Obama also paid Iran billions in cash so he could get the Iran deal done. That Iran deal cash has financed Iran’s Middle East conventional warfare gains since the deal was done.
Beyond that, Iran gave up nothing in advance of the deal and retained critical parts of its nuclear program. We also know that the Iran deal is unverifiable. Indeed, many experts now think Iran has been cheating all along on the deal.
Even worse, Obama allowed the sanctions that brought Iran to the table to be removed immediately and before proof of ongoing compliance. That allowed Iran to start trading with the world again and, therefore, to finance even more conventional warfare and terrorism.
By contrast the Trump North Korean overture has been transparent. The world saw them meet and the world saw the promise made by the North Korean leader. If Kim Jong Un doesn’t follow through, he will have lied to the whole world in public, not in secret like Iran. Trump’s use of a public forum was the right way to do a deal like this.
Importantly, before the summit, North Korea returned imprisoned Americans and destroyed part of its nuclear program. In other words, they did something in advance of the summit to justify Trump attending the summit. Iran didn’t.
Most importantly, the sanctions that brought North Korea to the table remain in force. Trump didn’t let them off the hook like Obama did with Iran. Indeed, nothing Trump has done improves North Korea militarily or economically at this point – they have to denuclearize to get any real benefits.
The critics also complain that Trump agreed to cancel military exercises that were to be held next year. However, with so much lead time, if North Korea fails to follow through, Trump can go forward with those military exercises. It is true, that would mean Kim Jong Un would have embarrassed Trump – but for a chance to get a nuclear deal, it was worth the risk.
[Trump: US military drawdown in South Korea ‘not on the table right now’]
We also must remember that it is Trump making the deal, not Obama. Obama started out his presidency bowing and apologizing for America. Like Nixon and Reagan, Trump has credibility because he believes in American power and has sought to rebuild it. Who holds the hammer matters.
In short, the two deals are not the same at all. One of the deals has potential, the Iran deal never did. The Iran deal was a terrible deal from day one. The North Korea deal may well work. If it does, Trump would have taken North Korea and ISIS off the table as major world threats, which would make his presidency the most successful foreign policy presidency since the end of the Cold War.
Thomas Del Beccaro (@tomdelbeccaro) is former chairman of the California Republican Party and author of That Divided Era: How We Got Here and the Keys to America’s Reconciliation.
