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United States President Donald Trump has returned from a historic, impromptu stop on North Korean soil to a skeptical Washington, with critics saying he is normalizing a nuclear-armed Pyongyang.
In the sort of made-for-television, down-to-the-wire diplomacy relished by the former reality television host, Trump walked a few paces across the Demilitarized Zone on Sunday to greet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a day after the US leader proposed a meeting over Twitter.
In practical terms, Trump said that he and Kim agreed to start working-level talks on a denuclearization deal, ending a standstill in place since the two leaders’ second summit, in Hanoi in late February, ended without an agreement.
The New York Times, which did not identify its sources, said the Trump administration was considering an accord that would freeze but not dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, effectively accepting it as a nuclear state and acknowledging that it will not budge further.
Such a deal would be at odds with the “final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea” that Pompeo has insisted upon and far less than the nuclear deal former president Barack Obama reached with Iran, from which Trump pulled out, calling it “terrible.”
John Bolton, Trump’s national security adviser, denied the report and said that he and his staff had never heard of the idea of settling for a nuclear freeze. “This was a reprehensible attempt by someone to box in the President. There should be consequences,” Bolton tweeted.
But critics said that Trump was already spending precious diplomatic capital by meeting Kim on his own terms and inviting him to the White House. Rights group said that the North Korean regime holds tens of thousands of political prisoners in labor camps, with many locked up for even minor acts seen as disrespecting Kim.
“Let’s be clear. Trump isn’t negotiating with North Korea. He is normalising North Korea,” said Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat. Several Democratic presidential candidates hoping to defeat Trump next year also harshly criticized his diplomatic skills.
“Our President shouldn’t be squandering American influence on photo-ops and exchanging love letters with a ruthless dictator,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren, referring to correspondence including a birthday card over which Trump voiced delight.
