Inhofe sees vindication in Kim Jong Un’s overture to Trump
Staff Writer jwingerter@oklahoman.com
U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe felt vindicated Thursday night when it was announced that President Donald Trump plans to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Inhofe, a frequent defender of the president, has said in recent weeks that Trump’s tough talk — including his suggestion that he has a nuclear button on his desk and is unafraid to use it — will bring Kim to the negotiating table.
“That’s the kind of language a terrorist responds to and he responded,” Inhofe said during a news conference Friday. “He responded by calling up South Korea and saying we will now join you in the Winter Olympics. That’s what caused it.”
The same language led Kim to agree to meet Trump at an undetermined time and place, according to Inhofe, who was in South Korea last month.
“I think he’s going to change because he’s never run into a tough president of the United States who will talk to him on his own level,” the Tulsa Republican said. “He has now.”
Chung Eui-Yong, South Korea’s national security adviser, credited international solidarity, as well as Trump’s “maximum pressure policy,” for the diplomatic breakthrough during remarks at the White House on Thursday.
Sen. James Lankford has been less enthusiastic about a meeting between Trump and Kim, telling Fox News Radio he is skeptical of Kim.
“The deal is not done,” the Oklahoma City Republican said Friday. “This is a first meeting that’s planned. It’s a historic meeting but I have a tremendous amount of skepticism, as I would assume President Trump does and the rest of his team.”
Also skeptical is Robert Ashley, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. He told Inhofe earlier this week, “I do not share your enthusiasm. That’s kind of a show-me and so we’ll see how this plays out.”
Inhofe’s response was, “OK, we’ll write that down and see who’s right and who’s wrong.”
By Friday, Inhofe believed he had been proven right and Trump’s critics proven wrong.
“It could very well be that you’ve seen the last of the problem in North Korea,” he said. “That’s a huge thing and it’s one that nobody thought could happen, except one person.”