After all the boasting and chest-thumping between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un that infused the American people with panic and apprehension over a full-blown nuclear war, the two leaders announced less than two weeks ago that they have agreed to meet sometime in the near future to “achieve permanent denuclearization.”
The move hasn’t gone unnoticed among American voters.
According to a Quinnipiac University poll released on Wednesday, 66 percent of voters approve of President Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that more voters (49-to-44 percent) believe Trump is not prepared for such a meeting. Even worse, 65 percent of voters believe North Korea won’t give up their nuclear weapons – compared to 26 percent who believe that a Trump-Kim Jong Un meeting will lead to denuclearization.
Forty-six percent of voters have the confidence that President Trump is handling the situation with North Korea – compared to 51 percent who don’t have any confidence in the president over this matter. However, that’s the highest mark Trump has received on this particular question.
President Trump has a ways to go into earning trust from the voters that he can actually get a deal done with the North Koreans. While many were shocked to learn about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s firing last week and the subsequent promotion of CIA Director Mike Pompeo to head up the State Department, it was an effort on the part of the Trump administration to bolster a team that is ready to deal with the North Koreans.
If Trump were able to pull this off and reach an agreement that is in the best interest of the U.S., it would be hard to argue that his presidency isn’t a success from that alone.
