President Donald Trump

[Gregg]

So I don't see how yesterday's summit was a negative in any way. It was positive, and we have much more cause for optimism regarding North Korea than we did a year ago when the leaders were exchanging nuclear threats and insults. But it's clearly only a very tip-of-the-iceberg thing. An agreement to continue working together in good faith toward peace and denuclearization, but no firm commitments to specific, measurable, time-bound action (except presumably the US promise to cease military exercises on the Korean peninsula). I feel like if President Obama had held the exact same summit and signed the exact same commitment that the GOP would be slamming him for that concession and for the embrace of Kim's legitimacy with no specific measurable concessions from the DPRK. But I'll give Trump a positive diplomacy stamp of approval contingent on sustained momentum toward a more comprehensive future agreement with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound commitments.

I agree with you. Good start. Better than expected.

But just wait the slamming from the Dems that you described as GOP vs Obama will be here before noon.

It was hard for Repubs to give Obama credit for anything. It is equally hard for Dems to give Trump credit.

[cardboardbox]

So I don't see how yesterday's summit was a negative in any way. It was positive, and we have much more cause for optimism regarding North Korea than we did a year ago when the leaders were exchanging nuclear threats and insults. But it's clearly only a very tip-of-the-iceberg thing. An agreement to continue working together in good faith toward peace and denuclearization, but no firm commitments to specific, measurable, time-bound action (except presumably the US promise to cease military exercises on the Korean peninsula). I feel like if President Obama had held the exact same summit and signed the exact same commitment that the GOP would be slamming him for that concession and for the embrace of Kim's legitimacy with no specific measurable concessions from the DPRK. But I'll give Trump a positive diplomacy stamp of approval contingent on sustained momentum toward a more comprehensive future agreement with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound commitments.

It was a very positive first step, but very little actually happened. Maybe it should be viewed as a first date and since neither side nuked the other, it was a good first date. I dont think we gave up much at all. We can restart those military exercises almost immediately if needed.

[Teenwolf]

Trump wants praise, not peace.

He ends the Iran deal which was far more restrictive than this one... he attacks the US allies and praises their adversaries... why? So he can show his campaign promise, that Trump is the only one who can fix things... not Obama, not the Canadians, only Trump.

I'm happy Trump is getting bent over in the deal. That's what the US deserves right now. I'm also happy about ending the military exercises, but Trump was willing to give up anything to receive his praise... now the narrative will be "this is the greatest deal in history and the Dems are just sad Obama couldn't get it done" and Trump supporters will climax over it. Pathetic sequence of predictable (un)presidential actions.

[Hornsby]

Let's not get too carried away on what a wonderful thing that Trump did...

- South Korea is already questioning some of Trump's promises.

- There was no talk about human rights.

- US unilaterally decided to end military exercises, got nothing in return.

- US said it wishes to down down US troops in the region...got nothing in return.

- Kim made NO claim to any sort of verifiable, complete, or irreversible denuclearization.

In other words, the US got exactly nothing out of the meeting...nothing.

Oh yeah, looks like tomorrow is going to be the one year anniversary of Otto Warmbier being returned from NK in an irreversible coma...

[senorsheep]

Let's not get too carried away on what a wonderful thing that Trump did...

- South Korea is already questioning some of Trump's promises.

- There was no talk about human rights.

- US unilaterally decided to end military exercises, got nothing in return.

- US said it wishes to down down US troops in the region...got nothing in return.

- Kim made NO claim to any sort of verifiable, complete, or irreversible denuclearization.

In other words, the US got exactly nothing out of the meeting...nothing.

Oh yeah, looks like tomorrow is going to be the one year anniversary of Otto Warmbier being returned from NK in an irreversible coma...

The return of tens of thousands of soldiers needlessly encamped on foreign soil for decades isn't nothing to me. I'll gladly give him credit if he can follow through and make it happen.

[revo]

South Korea appears to have been taken completely by surprise that the joint exercises will end. I guess that's what happens when you have a president who foregoes "preparation" and just starts winging it.

The return of tens of thousands of soldiers needlessly encamped on foreign soil for decades isn't nothing to me. I'll gladly give him credit if he can follow through and make it happen.

He followed that up by saying "....but that's not part of the equation right now."

[senorsheep]

He followed that up by saying "....but that's not part of the equation right now."

No, I imagine he'll want something in return before pulling the trigger on significant troop withdrawals. He's likely floating the idea as an enticement.

There's nothing concrete to get excited about yet, but did you really expect there to be after one meeting?

[revo]

No, I imagine he'll want something in return before pulling the trigger on significant troop withdrawals. He's likely floating the idea as an enticement.

There's nothing concrete to get excited about yet, but did you really expect there to be after one meeting?

No, but he's continuing this disturbing trend of praising our enemies and throwing our allies under the bus.

[senorsheep]

No, but he's continuing this disturbing trend of praising our enemies and throwing our allies under the bus.

And you don't think that praise might be strategic, perhaps?

He's obviously no globalist sophisticate. Then again, how many soldiers have our globalist sophisticates brought back from South Korea in recent decades?

I just found the partisan poo poo-ing after one round of meetings to be funny. Carry on.

[cardboardbox]

I just found the partisan poo poo-ing after one round of meetings to be funny. Carry on.

You expected something else?

[senorsheep]

You expected something else?

Sports Bar political posters are more predictable than pre-awakened Westworld hosts...

[revo]

And you don't think that praise might be strategic, perhaps?

He's obviously no globalist sophisticate. Then again, how many soldiers have our globalist sophisticates brought back from South Korea in recent decades?

I just found the partisan poo poo-ing after one round of meetings to be funny. Carry on.

No. It is widely known that he routinely falls victim to being flattered. There's almost certainly nothing strategic about it (from our side -- certainly from their side).

[nots]

The reaction by the left is comical to me. Amazing Trump wasn’t able to solve the regions problems in that meeting. And the audacity of him talking about downsizing our troops in the region. It’s almost like he’s a 1960s era Anti-Vietnam War Democrat.

[chancellor]

Sports Bar political posters are more predictable than pre-awakened Westworld hosts...

Poo.

[senorsheep]

No. It is widely known that he routinely falls victim to being flattered. There's almost certainly nothing strategic about it (from our side -- certainly from their side).

We were talking about him praising North Korea, not the other way around. Whether that yields anything remains to be seen, but I think it's fairly obvious his praise for them is strategic, vs. him actually thinking that North Korea's regime is, in fact, suddenly awesome.