FOREIGN POLICY/IRAN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Nobody said national-security policy was simple or easy. For proof, look at the current state of U.S. views on North Korea and Iran. At the moment, President Donald Trump has nice things to say about North Korea, which has built a nuclear weapon, has threatened to use it against the U.S., and has a long record of breaking international agreements. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump has brought the full fury of American diplomatic and economic pressure down upon Iran, which has no nuclear weapon, has never threatened to use one against the U.S., and has, by all accounts, been abiding by the international agreement it reached to curb its nuclear program. Mr. Trump is seeking a nuclear deal with North Korea. He has just abandoned one with Iran. Why the difference? It seems illogical. Obviously, Mr. Trump sees the Iran nuclear deal as fatally flawed and presumes he can get a better one with North Korea. But beyond that, he is trying to encourage what he sees as a potentially significant change in attitude from North Korea, something he apparently doesn’t see emerging from Iran.”
-Gerald F. Seib, “Behind Trump’s Diverging Attitudes on North Korea and Iran,” The Wall Street Journal, May 14, 2018 8:00 am