Trump says he will be honoured to meet ‘smart cookie’ Kim Jong Un
exist but not expand? That’s the counterfactual question you have to ask.”
If his civil war remarks raised questions about his knowledge of the country’s past, those about Kim and Duterte were found troubling for the present and future.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely; I would be honoured to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg news in an interview on Monday, when asked if he would sit down with the North Korean leader.
White House spokesperson Sean Spicer contextualised it at his daily briefing telling reporters Trump’s offer was conditional. “There’s a lot of conditions that I think would have to happen with respect to its behaviour and to show signs of good faith.”
About the invitation to the Philippine President, Trump pointed to Duterte’s popularity ratings, which are accorded a high priority by him, overlooking the extra-judicial killings he has ordered.
But the Philippine leader may have saved Trump the embarrassment by indicating he is likely to be too busy to accept the White House invitation. Trump’s elder daughter Ivanka Trump revived ethics concerns on Tuesday by publishing a selfhelp book for working women, albeit peppered with anecdotes likely to jar on those outside the moneyed elite. Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success was released simultaneously in hardback, ebook, 497minute audio download and CD, with the US President’s assistant sitting on the cover in a dark frock. AGENCIES