Donald Trump, Kim Jong Un summit was Bluster and Balloons

At his Singapore meeting with Kim Jong Un, Donald Trump gave away important U.S. bargaining chips, used North Korea's talking points and blindsided South Korea.

I supported President Trump’s decision to meet with Kim Jong Un, the dictator of North Korea. From my own experience in negotiating with the North Koreans, I know that their leaders believe only they can make consequential decisions for their country. This makes sense since North Korea lacks a free press, an effective legislature and any sense of "we the people." 

Although the United States is a democracy, President Trump has said that he feels that only he makes decisions for our country. I thought, then, that perhaps these two leaders might develop a framework that would authorize negotiating teams to move forward with a plan to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

Instead, the Singapore summit wasn’t much more than bluster and balloons. It was a celebratory summit where Kim publicly received the respect and recognition he and his predecessors have long sought, and Trump didn’t get much more than a vague promise. Optics were arranged to portray Kim as the equal of a U.S. president. Flags of both countries were hung side-by-side, photo ops were arranged, and the leaders signed an official statement that was far weaker than at least three previous documents signed by North Korea in years past.