Could we be on the brink of a thaw in U.S. relations with North Korea? The Trump administration is hoping so in the wake of a shocking message South Korean officials brought from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un on Thursday: that Kim is “committed to denuclearization,” that the North will refrain from further nuclear testing, and that Kim is eager to meet face-to-face with President Trump.
The message, which Korean officials relayed to Trump in the Oval Office Thursday afternoon, is nothing short of staggering, a total reversal of the posture Kim Jong-un took toward the United States in the first year of the Trump presidency. Less than six months ago, Trump and Kim were swapping threats of nuclear annihilation and biting personal insults—“Little Rocket Man” for Kim, “the mentally deranged U.S. dotard” for Trump. And while North Korea has made several unexpected diplomatic overtures to the outside world recently, including their “charm offensive” at the Winter Olympics in South Korea, they have never so much as hinted that they might put their nuclear stockpile on the negotiating table.
It’s thus no surprise that the Trump administration is approaching this latest development with caution. Press secretary Sarah Sanders said Thursday evening that Trump would accept the invitation to meet with Kim, and that “we look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea.” But she stressed that nothing short of that goal would induce the United States to relax their economic and diplomatic pressure campaign against Korea.
It’s not clear what the Kim regime thinks they stand to gain. And it’s important to remember that so far, this is essentially a game of telephone—the South Korean government telling us what they say the North Korean government told them. Many American officials are skeptical that the news is as good as it sounds, with one Republican telling Axios’ Jonathan Swan that “there is zero chance that Kim talked about ‘denuclearization’ in the sense of giving up his weapons.”
Senator Lindsey Graham probably said it best in his Thursday statement: “I understand that if the past is an indication of the future, North Korea will be all talk and no action. However, I do believe that North Korea now believes President Trump will use military force if he has to. A word of warning to North Korean President Kim Jong Un—the worst possible thing you can do is meet with President Trump in person and try to play him. If you do that, it will be the end of you—and your regime.”
The White House thought process on Kim’s invitation, as expressed by a senior administration official Thursday: “President Trump made his reputation on making deals. Kim Jong-un is the one person who is able to make decisions under their authoritarian—uniquely authoritarian—or totalitarian system. And so it made sense to accept an invitation to meet with the one person who can actually make decisions instead of repeating the long slog of the past.”
The Korea decision wasn’t the only major bit of international news coming out of the White House Thursday: President Trump also signed his order slapping heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. I reported on the details of the plan, which are substantially more flexible than Trump’s no-exceptions rhetoric last week would have had us believe:
The big tariff question now is how congressional Republicans will respond? Many GOP lawmakers see Trump’s plan as a large-scale economic misstep. But Republicans also have reason to be nervous about taking direct action against a president who never hesitates to punch back and whose attacks carry enormous sway among Republican primary voters. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan each issued statements condemning the tariffs, but neither suggested they would spearhead a revolt over the issue.
Several GOP senators, including Finance Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake, Mike Lee, and Ben Sasse, suggested Thursday that they could support taking legislative action to nullify the tariffs.
Mark It Down—“Bump stocks are just about finished, from the standpoint of getting the legal work done, the paperwork . . . Bump stocks are going to be gone.” –President Trump, March 8, 2018
Outgoing White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, who announced he would resign earlier this week following Trump’s tariffs decision, attended his final cabinet meeting Thursday. During the meeting, Trump made it clear that he and Cohn were parting ways on good terms with a very characteristic compliment.
“He may be a globalist, but I still like him,” Trump said. “He is seriously a globalist, there’s no question. But you know what, in his own way he’s a nationalist because he loves our country.”
Trump even left the door open for Cohn to return to the administration: “I have a feeling you’ll be back. I don’t know if I can put him in the same position, though.”
Trump’s friendliness to Cohn might prove important in one more internal matter, as Cohn is reportedly trying to influence the president’s selection of his replacement as director of the National Economic Council. Politico reports that Cohn is pushing for the selection of his deputy director Shahira Knight over other contenders, such as Trump’s pro-tariff trade adviser Peter Navarro.
At the same time, it’s unlikely that Cohn’s successor will wield nearly the same level of influence in the White House that he did. Cohn became a powerful force on economic issues in the White House in large part because he established a strong personal connection with Trump, who respected him as a “total killer.”
Song of the Day—“Sweet Jane,” The Velvet Underground
