VETERAN DIPLOMAT HAS ADVICE FOR TRUMP
Unlike TV show ‘The Apprentice’, Bill Richardson tells president to get a plan and a team
FORMER United States ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson has negotiated with many pariah leaders, from Saddam Hussein to Myanmar’s military dictators, to former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Richardson, who has visited the North several times, had some choice words of advice for President Donald Trump about agreeing to a summit with with current leader Kim Jong-un: It’s a bold move, but this isn’t reality television — get a team and strategy.
“I was extremely surprised. It’s a huge gamble, a big risk, but worth taking. Things couldn’t possibly be worse than they are right now in terms of the relationship and tension in the Korean peninsula,” Richardson said.
“It’s a real opportunity. I worry
about the president’s unpreparedness and lack of discipline. But I commend him for this bold move in accepting the invitation.
“But this is not The Apprentice. It’s a negotiation with an unpredictable leader, who has at least 20 nuclear weapons and who threatens the US.”
Richardson said any deal would take a long time.
“This is so unusual in diplomacy. It’s usually from the bottom up. Our goal should be denuclearisation, but I don’t believe it’s realistic. Curbs and freezes on North Korea’s nuclear, ballistic and conventional forces should be pushed extremely hard.”
The retired diplomat said a “goodwill gesture” by Pyongyang would be to send back three
Americans it is holding prisoner, and release the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War.
At just 34, Kim “is unpredictable, sometimes irrational. But he’s been underestimated”, Richardson said.
“I’ve long thought he had an agenda, an end-game, and it’s obvious that he does.
“He’s evolved from a bombthrowing leader to a man with a strategic vision. He has been quite successful recently in initiating diplomacy with South Korea at the Olympics.
However, Richardson added that “We should make sure we don’t fall into a trap set by the North Koreans, who are very good at negotiating deals and then withdrawing.”
Richardson’s main worry was that Trump agreed to the summit “on the seat of his pants”.
“He’s got to have a strategy and I worry that this turmoil in the White House and his own style is not going to be enough. He can’t keep shooting from the hip, tweeting,” Richardson said.
“The secretary of state needs to lead these discussions. There should be military representation.
“The president needs to assemble a team and a coherent strategy. This is not reality TV, but a major negotiation on the hottest national security crisis in the world today.”
Richardson added: “The smartest thing Trump should do, he should call in president Bush, and president Clinton, and tap them for their expertise.
“He shouldn’t do it alone.”