Topsy-turvy Washington
By John Burton
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It has been interesting to see the topsy-turvy reaction in Washington, D.C. over the past month to the proposed summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.
The Washington foreign policy consensus has rapidly shifted from fears that Trump would launch a preventive war against North Korea to criticism that Trump shouldn't meet Kim.
Trump himself has made fun of such diametrically opposing responses. “He's going to get us in a war,” Trump recently told a fundraiser as he mimicked a news anchor. Trump then added that the liberal news media was now criticizing him for “conceding” to meet Kim. “They were afraid of being blown up. Then all of a sudden, they say, let's not meet.”
Trump's comments have some validity about the confusion that reigns in Washington about how to solve the North Korean nuclear issue and the lack of bold imaginative thinking.
But the conservative news media has also gone through contortions over recent developments. Fox News, Trump's favorite cable channel, once criticized President Barack Obama for even raising the idea of a possible meeting with the North Korean leader.
Now leading commentators on Fox are praising Trump for doing the same thing.
“The commander-in-chief's leadership is now leading to a major foreign policy breakthrough,” said Sean Hannity. “President Trump proves the experts wrong once again and scores a stunning diplomatic victory,” proclaimed Laura Ingraham.
The summit has become another partisan issue in a polarized Washington instead of being judged on the merits of whether it can help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis despite the risks involved.
Democrat lawmakers have been among those who have poured cold water on the summit idea. Trump “gave Kim Jong-un exactly what he wants, the appearance of legitimacy & a stage where he looks like the equal of the President of the US. Ugh…,” tweeted Democrat Senator Martin Heinrich from Colorado.
“Diplomacy is always a positive step, but high-risk talks between Pres. Trump and Kim Jong-un should be met with skepticism. We cannot afford another Presidential reality show,” tweeted Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
The critical and cautious response from Democrats is surprising since engagement with North Korea was once the policy of Democrat administrations going back to the Clinton presidency.
Partisan warfare in Washington over North Korea, however, is nothing new. The 1994 Framework Agreement that was negotiated by the Clinton administration and which froze North Korea's nuclear program for at least six years would eventually fall victim to partisan political obstruction by the George W. Bush administration and Republican lawmakers.
Meanwhile, leading Washington think tanks, such as the Brookings Institute, are trying to split the difference. While they support the idea of finding a diplomatic solution, they are also skeptical about the summit. Policy wonks and other commentators offer several objections. Trump is giving Kim unwarranted international status. Trump is unprepared to handle complex negotiations due to recent staffing changes. As a result, Trump will either give away too much or too little, making the stand-off even more dangerous.
Public opinion polls, however, suggest that most Americans think the summit is a good idea. One survey conducted by Quinnipiac University said that two-thirds of Americans approve of the summit, while only 26 percent oppose it. Support for the summit is strong despite the fact that respondents had doubts about Trump's ability to handle the negotiations and whether Pyongyang would be willing to give up its nuclear weapons.
The varying responses about the summit place both Democrat and Republican lawmakers in a difficult situation. Foreign policy hawks like Republican Senators Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner and Lindsey Graham are setting up impossibly high conditions and expectations for the talks that are guaranteed to ensure its failure and leave war as the only alternative. Are they willing to break with Trump on this issue when they have supported the president on so many others?
Meanwhile, Democrats appear to be responding in a knee-jerk fashion in criticizing the summit just because it involves Trump. Instead they should celebrate the fact that Trump has accepted an idea that has been promoted by some Democrat foreign policy makers in the past.
They should recognize that whatever his motives, Trump has taken a bold gamble that could pave the way to big dividends. Trump's agreement to meet Kim should be viewed as an important confidence-building measure in a bilateral relationship where little or no trust exists.
Democrat support could prove crucial in encouraging Trump to follow a diplomatic approach despite his recent appointment of John Bolton, known as a superhawk, as his national security adviser. The worry remains that Trump will back away from the summit idea as he confronts criticism from both the left and right. The truth is that Trump is susceptible to crumbling and reversing course under domestic pressure. Let us hope this is not the case this time.
John Burton (johnburtonft@yahoo.com), a former Korea correspondent for the Financial Times, is now a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and consultant.