3/1/2019

HUMAN RIGHTS/NORTH KOREA/SUMMIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump responded to criticism Friday [3-1-19] about his apparent acceptance of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s denial that he had any involvement in the death of a young American who had been held in North Korean custody…After meeting with Kim in Vietnam for a summit on North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, Trump told reporters on Thursday [2-28-19], that Kim ‘felt badly about’ Warmbier’s death…Experts said that is virtually impossible that in an authoritarian regime like North Korea that one of the few Americans in their custody could have been tortured without Kim’s consent…The president proceeded to deflect blame on the Obama administration, explaining that he was the one who had secured Warmbier’s release while his predecessor had been in office when Warmbier was detained.”

William Cummings, “‘Of course I hold North Korea responsible’: Trump says Warmbier comments ‘misinterpreted’,” USA Today, March 1, 2019 8:51 pm