SLEEP WELL, MY ASS

Donald Trump told us “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea.”  “Sleep well tonight.” Trump said.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just returned from a meeting in Pyongyang.  To say it didn’t go well would be an understatement.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders had informed us that the meeting was scheduled with the North Korean leader as a follow up to their historic summit in Singapore.  The purpose, to begin negotiating the details of North Korea’s promised denuclearization.  Except Pompeo didn’t meet with Kim.  The North Korean dictator snubbed him.  The North Korean delegation humiliated him.  Pompeo was sent home with hat in hand and no agreement in sight.

Desperately seeking to maintain a shred of his dignity, Pompeo offering that:  “Some progress was made.”  The North Koreans offered no such niceties; calling the meeting “regrettable” and stating flatly that the US was engaging in “gangster-like tactics” in demanding denuclearization.

There is no denuclearization agreement.  There never was.  There never will be.  The world knows what happens when you give up your nukes and your weapons of mass destruction.  Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein will go down in history for their efforts.  Kim understands this bit of history.

Kim also recognized the reality star’s obsession for a historic headline grabbing moment and played the president for a fool.  Kim not only got the legitimizing photo-op he wanted; he got Trump to throw in the cessation of military exercises with South Korea as the cherry on top.  Trump got played.  Period. Thanks to Trump the despots and dictators around the world now know…acquire a nuclear arsenal…protect yourself…gain legitimacy on the world stage…tell the toothless US whatever it wants to hear…but never, ever give up your arsenal.

In the afterglow of the summit Trump declared that Kim would begin the process of tearing down his nuclear arsenal immedialty.  “He’s probably starting right now.” Trump said.  Not only has Kim not begun the denuclearization process as Trump promised; satellite photos show Kim has ramped up his efforts to develop an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear payload to any target in the US.

Well done.

Where does Trump go from here?

A competent administration would approach China about using its economic and military influence to bring the North Koreans to heel.  But Trump has infuriated the Chinese by ordering billions in tariffs on Chinese products; effectively instigating a costly trade war against the Asian behemoth.  Naturally, China has responded in kind.

A competent administration would approach our NATO allies and encourage them to ramp up economic sanctions to force Kim back to the negotiating table.  Unfortunately  Trump has personally attacked NATO leaders and labeled the alliance obsolete and ineffective; going so far as threatening to pull out of the organization.

A competent administration would approach our South Korean ally and encourage them to remain strong on the border and reenergized its efforts to maintain peace in the region.  But Trump ditched the joint military exercises with Seoul without first consulting the South Korean leadership; a move that made the South Koreans look inconsequential as respects events occurring along their own border.  As a result the South has no interest in helping Trump poke their irrational neighbor to the North and provoking a war that  in the first 24 hours would  take the lives of millions of South Koreans.

What we see on display here is a level of incompetence never before witnessed on the world stage.  A mind numbing display rivaled only by this president’s inhumane order to separate immigrant infants and toddlers from their parents with no system in place to reunite them on the other side of the legal process.

This week Trump attends a NATO summit followed by a brief confab with the Brits before a one-on-one meeting with Vladimir Putin.  It is curious how in Trump’s bizarre world the NATO leaders and the Brits are his enemies…and Putin is his friend.

Sleep well, my ass.