President Trump is heading into a two-day summit with Kim Jong Un with
high hopes on making a big deal, getting denuclearization restarting,
and potentially also negotiating an end to the Korean War of 1950.
But the eve of peace also means the eve of an end to the status quo, and
that’s predictably gotten a number of media outlets up in arms. Already
deeply critical of Trump’s interest in diplomacy, the reports now are
also trying to portray everyone else as distrustful of the idea, and already trying to spin any deals Trump made as a “significant retreat” from his previous demands.
The narrative here is that Trump had promised to “solve” North Korea
without giving up anything in return until after denuclearization is
completed. This clearly suits them fine, as not giving North Korea
anything has stalled the process, and threatened to keep decades of
hostility intact.
The only way to get back on a track toward peace would be to offer North
Korea something, and in doing so, the administration can expect to be
attacked for backing down off their false idea that they could get
everything they wanted without giving anything up.
Trump Eager for Korea Deal But Media, Pols Hostile to Diplomacy
Pessimistic reports accuse Trump of 'significant retreat'
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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