DEFENSE/MIKE POMPEO/MILITARY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opened the door on Tuesday [8-28-18] to restarting large-scale military exercises on the Korean Peninsula, appearing to contradict President Trump, who had labeled the war games costly and ‘provocative’ two months ago in trying to lower tensions with North Korea. Mr. Mattis insisted that the step did not signal that the era of détente between the Trump administration and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, was over. But the Pentagon chief’s comments came amid souring relations: In the last week alone, the United States canceled a trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang and North Korean state media accused the United States of ‘double-dealing attitudes’ and ‘extremely provocative and dangerous military moves’…Any resumption of large military exercises involving the Americans and South Koreans is certain to infuriate North Korean officials, who regularly denounce such operations. And the reversal reflects confusion within the Trump administration about how to deal with North Korea. The president’s declaration of victory after his landmark summit meeting in Singapore in June has given way to tense accusations and counteraccusations.”
–Helene Cooper, Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Edward Wong, “Pentagon May Restart Major War Games Amid Rising Tensions With North Korea,” The New York Times online, August 28, 2018