6/15/2018

MIKE POMPEO/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s assertion Friday [6-15-18] that he has ‘solved’ the North Korean nuclear weapons threat again diverged from how Secretary of State Mike Pompeo depicted the outcome of this week’s summit between Mr. Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. Mr. Pompeo, in meetings in South Korea and China after the summit, said that much work remains before North Korea gives up its nuclear weapons, and told Chinese officials on Thursday [6-14-18] that ‘there are still risks we won’t achieve that.” Mr. Trump’s claim on Friday, in remarks to reporters at the White House, echoed Twitter messages he sent earlier in the week after his summit with Mr. Kim in Singapore, when he said: ‘There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea.’ The view also has been disputed by some longtime U.S. experts on diplomacy with North Korea. Mr. Trump’s remarks have steadily contrasted with views expressed by Mr. Pompeo, who is in charge of driving the diplomatic process forward after the Singapore meeting. The conflicting public statements risk sending mixed signals that set back the process, some say.”

-Jessica Donati and Louise Radnofsky, “Trump, Pompeo Offer Conflicting Versions of North Korea Talks,” The Wall Street Journal, June 15, 2018