MICHAEL COHEN/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SUMMIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The news that President Donald Trump walked away from negotiations with North Korea early and empty-handed led many experts and lawmakers to heave sighs of relief, even as the summit’s abrupt finale raises questions about where things go from here. Many had worried that the President, eager to score a success and distract from damaging testimony by his former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, would make a deal that endangered America’s national security and possibly decrease the chances of Pyonyang denuclearization. According to people familiar with conversations among the President’s senior national security officials, Trump told some advisers ahead of the Hanoi talks that he did not want to appear overly thirsty to secure a deal, hoping to prove wrong the myriad analysts who predicted he’d give away the store to demonstrate some type of progress. Trump insisted at a press conference that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un were executing a ‘nice walk’ away from the table — but what exactly happened in Vietnam isn’t at all clear, as both sides emerged with different stories in the hours after they packed up and headed home.”
–Nicole Gaouette, Kylie Atwood and Kevin Liptak, “Abrupt end to Trump-Kim summit prompts sighs of relief, questions about what’s next,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, February 28, 2019 4:32 am