ELATION , BUT NOT QUITE A DON DEAL
Prez: Hey, I may be wrong but . . .
An upbeat President Trump left Singapore Tuesday after his brief but historic sitdown with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, praising the progress they made while admitting there were no guarantees of success.
“I honestly think he’s going to do these things,” Trump said about Kim’s vow — far from the rogue regime’s first — to begin dismantling its nuclear arsenal.
Trump lavished praise on the brutal dictator as a ruler who actually loves his people.
“Really, he’s got a great personality. . . He loves his people, not that I’m surprised by that, but he loves his people. And I think that we have the start of an amazing deal,” Trump told the Voice of America.
But the commander in chief also expressed doubts about the whirlwind summit, in which the United States agreed to end its regular war games with South Korea, while Kim offered only vague promises to denuclearize.
“I may stand before you in six months and say, ‘Hey, I was wrong.’ I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that, but I’ll find some kind of excuse,” Trump said — as journalists laughed.
“You can’t ensure anything. All I can say is that they want to make a deal . . . I know when somebody wants to deal and I know when somebody doesn’t,” the president boasted.
“A lot of politicians don’t. That’s not their thing, but it is my thing. Again, this really could have been done, I think easier, a long time ago, but I know — I just feel very strongly, my instinct, my ability or talent, they want to make a deal and making a deal is a great thing for the world,” he continued.
Both leaders expressed optimism throughout roughly five hours of talks, with Trump thanking Kim afterward “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people.”
Kim, for his part, promised, “The world will see a major change.”
Early Wednesday, North Korea said Trump has agreed on a stepby-step denuclearization process , in return for reciprocal concessions from the United States. It was not clear what those concessions might be.
The details of how and when the North would denuclearize were yet to be determined, as was the nature of the unspecified “protec- tions” Trump pledged to Kim and his government.
During his post-summit news conference Tuesday, Trump acknowledged that denuclearization won’t happen overnight but would be the subject of future talks between the North and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
The Singapore accord largely amounted to an agreement to keep talking. It did not, for instance, include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of war between the US and North Korea, which has remained in effect since hostilities ended in the 1950s.
Trump also said he had obtained a separate concession from Kim to demolish a missile-engine testing site, although it was just one site of many connected to the nuclear program.
Trump insisted that strong verification of denuclearization would be included in a final agreement, saying it was a detail his team would begin sorting out with the North Koreans next week.
Late Tuesday, he issued several tweets touting the meeting, saying, “The World has taken a big step back from potential Nuclear catastrophe!”
And on his way home from the summit, Trump tweeted aboard Air Force One, “There is no limit to what NoKo can achieve when it gives up its nuclear weapons and embraces commerce & engagement w/ the world.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) attacked the summit as “a reality show.”
But Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called it a potential first step toward peace.
“While very light on substance, the meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un in Singapore represents a positive step,” Sanders said in a statement.