President Trump ended his G20 summit with a side-trip to the Korean demilitarized zone [DMZ]. He stepped into N. Korea and made history as the first sitting President to visit what is essentially a gigantic prison colony. Kim Jong-un appeared gleeful that Trump was again raising his international profile by treating him as an equal rather than a human rights nightmare and mass murderer. Trump and Kim Jong-un agreed to re-start talks concerning economic sanctions and N. Korea'

Kim Jong Un warned President Trump yesterday that he expected the United States to become more "flexible" in negotiations concerning North Korea's nuclear weapons program and international sanctions on his regime. Reuters: “We will wait for a bold decision from the U.S. with patience till the end of this year but I think it will definitely be difficult to get such a good opportunity as the previous summit,” Kim added." Kim didn't say what actions he might take if Trump didn't

President Trump's current negotiating strategy with North Korea consists of fawning over its leader Kim Jong-un and promising that if Kim gives up his nukes, his impoverished nation can look forward to a rosy economic future. Kim knows BS when he hears it but is willing to play along because he realizes that Trump is far too invested in their special friendship and needs a foreign policy success. And, if the US President is willing to elevate his status as a world leader, en

President Trump's negotiations with Kim Jong-un collapsed after the two leaders failed to agree on any steps toward nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula. Trump blamed the failure on N. Korea's desire for immediate sanctions relief saying, “They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety and we couldn’t do that ..." New York Times: "Mr. Trump said that Mr. Kim had agreed to take an important step toward dismantling a central part of his nuclear program — the Yongbyon

Despite what President Trump has claimed recently at his political rallies, Kim Jong-un is not dismantling his nation's nuclear weapons program. That's not a surprise to those who have observed N. Korea's negotiating strategies over the last few decades. David E. Sanger and William J. Broad, New York Times: “The North Koreans have lied to us consistently for nearly 30 years,” Joseph Nye, who wrote one of the National Intelligence Council’s first assessments of the North’s wea

President Trump's assurances that N. Korea's leader Kim Jong Un is trustworthy were undermined yesterday as various US intelligence agencies warned that N. Korea was still expanding its nuclear program despite promises of denuclearization at the recent summit. That isn't especially surprising given N. Korea's history, but it will fuel arguments that Trump's inexperience in foreign relations combined with his shoot-from-the-hip approach to diplomacy is a dangerous mix. Ellen M