In September 2017, President Trump, in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly, called North Korea Leader Kim Jong Un a “rocket man on a suicide mission.” Within days, Trump followed up his attack on Kim by tweeting that the North Korean Leader was, “obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people.” North Korea responded to Trump with a series of verbal attacks on the president and declared that Trump’s aggressive comments amounted to “a declaration of war.”
By June, somewhat inexplicably, Trump was in Singapour attending the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. After around five hours of talks with Kim, Trump described the remarkable achievements of his summit.
Trump said that he had "developed a very special bond" with Kim and “everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.”
As a show of his confidence in Kim, the president said that he had agreed to stop U.S. “war games” on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has frequently cited U.S. and South Korean military exercises as the reason why they need to develop a nuclear arsenal. In return, Trump told reporter that Kim had agreed to "destroying a major missile engine testing site" and that North Korea's promise to complete denuclearization would "be verified." The problem with all positive talk is that it is increasingly becoming clear that it was just all talk.
Last week, President Trump announced he was cancelling a planned trip to North Korea by Secretary of State Pompeo. In canceling Pompeo’s trip, the president cited the weak progress made by the North Koreans on denuclearization.
As could have been expected, within day of Trump cancelling Pompeo’s trip, the North Koreans were accusing the U.S. of "hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war against the DPRK" and expressing the belief that America could no longer be trusted as a negotiating partner.
In light of the apparent breakdown in U.S.-North Korean relations, it appears that Trump’s historic summit with Kim was a historic failure. Not only did Trump dignify an authoritarian leader who has been accused of countless human rights abuses, including public executions, arbitrary detention, and forced labor, but if recent reports are correct, North Korea is continuing and even increasing its production of nuclear material.
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