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The 5-Minute Fix: What to watch for in North Korea-Trump talks
Dennis Rodman's on board. So are some members of Congress, albeit hesitantly. But everyone is totally shocked that President Trump went from promising to rain down “fire and fury” on North Korea to saying he may sit down with one of the world's most erratic leaders, a.k.a. “Little Rocket Man,” a.k.a. “lunatic,” a.k.a. Kim Jong Un.
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If Trump goes through with the meeting, he would be the first sitting U.S. president in, well, ever to have a face-to-face a North Korean leader.
It goes without saying this is hugely risky. Trump would be handing a reclusive dictator the legitimacy he so craves, and there's no guarantee the U.S. can get something in return. Worst-case scenario, North Korea has a ballistic missile that is capable of reaching all of the United States.
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People watch a TV screen showing images of North Korea, South Korea and the U.S. leader in South Korea. (Ahn Young-joon/AP)
Here are four things to watch as we gauge whether the talks have a chance of reducing tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world:
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1. Is North Korea serious about denuclearization? The Trump administration says North Korea has agreed to make getting rid of its nukes part of the talks. But foreign policy experts don't think North Korea will let go of its leverage without big concessions from the U.S., like lifting punishing sanctions. That could hang up the talks altogether. The White House said Friday that Trump will only meet with Un if he talks "verifiable actions" toward denuking.
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Un and Trump. (Getty)
2. Is the Trump administration prepared enough to handle this? Trump has filled his White House and Cabinet with people like him, novices in government and diplomacy. He's also been glacially slow in staffing up; he hasn't even nominated a U.S. ambassador to South Korea yet.
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3. Can Trump stick to a script? Experts warn that every syllable in a high-stakes negotiation like this will matter. But Trump prides himself on throwing out the playbook at the last minute and just going with his gut. That's gotten him into fights with the Australian prime minister, the president of Mexico — and kept him relatively cozy with Russian President Vladimir Putin, explains The Fix's Aaron Blake. Who knows where that will lead with North Korea.
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President Trump speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an economic summit in Vietnam. (Mikhail KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images)
4. Does Trump come up with a deal Congress can get behind?Congress doesn't have an official say in all this. But they can shape how the public reacts. In many ways these talks are for Trump what the Iran nuclear deal was for President Barack Obama. Both leaders are putting themselves out there by undertaking risky negotiations with U.S. adversaries. Those negotiations are extremely difficult to do, but extremely easy to criticize.
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Former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, left, arrives at a Washington federal courthouse Friday to testify to a grand jury in the Russia investigation. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
Quick quiz for my regular readers: Which day of the week did former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg go on a cable TV tear about the Russia investigation? Was it even this week?
(Answer: Yes, Monday, but so much has happened since then that I had to Google it first.)
As I said, Nunberg isn't the only new development in the Russia investigation. Here's more:
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We already know Mueller is investigating the president for potentially obstructing justice. But Trump's actions suggest he's not too worried about it.
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2. A Trump supporter may have tried to establish a secret back channel between Trump and Russia. The way Blackwater founder Erik Prince framed it to Congress, he coincidentally ran into Russian officials on a remote island in the Indian Ocean before Trump's inauguration last year, and they never talked about setting up a secret channel for the White House to talk to the Kremlin.
The Post reports that Mueller's team is building evidence that the exact opposite happened. Mueller's team has witnesses testifying that Prince went to the Seychelles specifically to help Team Trump communicate with Putin. What for, we don't know.
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3. After all his bluster, former Trump campaign aide Nunberg did testify to a grand jury about the Trump campaign. The testimony happened Friday. We don't know what he said. But white collar lawyer Jeffrey Jacobovitz points out that grand juries are the method by which Mueller can issue indictments. (More on how grand juries work.)
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One thoughtful thing to leave you with ….
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Trump and porn star Stormy Daniels. (Matt Sayles/AP)
Why are evangelicals sticking by Trump in the face of all his alleged sexual indiscretions, asks The Fix's Eugene Scott? No one seems to have an answer.
“There had been a lot of talk among evangelicals about the significance of character in politics,” said Collin Hansen, head of a national network of conservative evangelical churches, to ABC. " ... That clearly was not the top priority of white evangelicals, or at least most of them, when it came to the last presidential election.” |
Trump and Vice President Pence cut a cake at an inaugural ball. (David J. Phillip/AP)
The president's own doctor has said he needs to eat fewer Big Macs. But is that possible when the president has a team of chefs dedicated to catering to his every whim, asks The Post's food writer, Tim Carman?
Not really. “If the president calls up the usher and wants a bag of Doritos and queso dip,” Carman reports, “the usher is going to bring the president a bag of Doritos and queso dip.”
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