Is Trump still "in love" with Kim Jong Un?
Donald Trump knows when a love affair dies....
"Oh but it's sad when a love affair dies
But we have pretended enoughIt's best that we both stop fooling ourselves"- Andrew Lloyd Webber
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| Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met twice, once in Singapore and again in Hanoi, but they accomplished virtually nothing. "Kim is a brutal dictator." |
Dr. Chavez* specializes in diplomacy and the American presidency.
Donald Trump said in an interview that there was a “very good chance” he’d make a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their second summit in Vietnam. (But he failed!)
But instead of the two reaching an agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program, the meeting ended abruptly, hours earlier than scheduled.
Both sides offered differing explanations for the summit’s failure. Trump said North Korea wanted all U.S. sanctions lifted in exchange for only incremental steps toward denuclearization. North Korea disputed this, saying the nation asked only for partial sanctions relief.
The collapse of the summit once again brings attention to Trump’s personalized style of diplomacy. After the summit, he declared that the diplomatic process would continue and he praised Kim. “We like each other,” the president said.
This isn’t the first time he has publicly noted his affection for the North Korean leader. Last September, he said that he and Kim “fell in love” over “beautiful letters.” And days before the summit, he called the North Korean leader “my friend.”
But the failure to reach a deal at the summit makes clear that there are limits to what his relationship with Kim can achieve.
Trump isn’t the first U.S. president to see value in forming relationships with foreign leaders. Many presidents have shared the sentiment of Richard Nixon, who said, “There is an intangible factor which does affect the relations between nations. … When there is trust between men who are leaders of nations, there is a better chance to settle differences than when there is no trust.”
But Nixon also knew that settling the toughest global challenges required more than the bond between leaders. “A smile or a handshake or an exchange of toasts or gifts or visits,” he said, “will not by themselves have effect where vital interests are concerned and where there are great differences.”
This was the case in Hanoi. The failed summit didn’t flop because the two leaders didn’t like each other. Rather, neither man could agree to a deal that he felt was not in his nation's interest.
So on one hand, the fact that Trump feels he has a personal connection with Kim is a positive. On the other hand, this relationship has done little to permanently alter North Korea’s nuclear program.
After the first Trump-Kim meeting last summer, Trump declared the nuclear threat from North Korea was over. But his own intelligence officials are skeptical that North Korea is willing to denuclearize. And since the second summit, reports say that North Korea has been rebuilding missile test facilities that it had partially dismantled after last year’s summit.
So as the president moves forward, he should recalibrate his expectations about what he can achieve through his personal diplomacy.
Leader-to-leader diplomacy is a tool that presidents can leverage for the benefit of the United States. But it’s only one tool and perhaps not even the most important. If the United States and North Korea are going to reach a deal, the Trump-Kim relationship can help, but it won’t be the deciding factor.
The president shouldn’t forget whom he’s dealing with. Kim is a brutal dictator. Not too long ago, Trump called him a “madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people.” At the end of the day, Kim is looking out for his own welfare, not that of the United States.
So, although Trump may see Kim as a friend, international relations are based on more than friendship, because friendships can end. As former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said, “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”
Donald Trump said in an interview that there was a “very good chance” he’d make a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their second summit in Vietnam. (But he failed!)
But instead of the two reaching an agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program, the meeting ended abruptly, hours earlier than scheduled.
 |
| Two failed summits! |
The collapse of the summit once again brings attention to Trump’s personalized style of diplomacy. After the summit, he declared that the diplomatic process would continue and he praised Kim. “We like each other,” the president said.
This isn’t the first time he has publicly noted his affection for the North Korean leader. Last September, he said that he and Kim “fell in love” over “beautiful letters.” And days before the summit, he called the North Korean leader “my friend.”
But the failure to reach a deal at the summit makes clear that there are limits to what his relationship with Kim can achieve.
Trump isn’t the first U.S. president to see value in forming relationships with foreign leaders. Many presidents have shared the sentiment of Richard Nixon, who said, “There is an intangible factor which does affect the relations between nations. … When there is trust between men who are leaders of nations, there is a better chance to settle differences than when there is no trust.”
But Nixon also knew that settling the toughest global challenges required more than the bond between leaders. “A smile or a handshake or an exchange of toasts or gifts or visits,” he said, “will not by themselves have effect where vital interests are concerned and where there are great differences.”
This was the case in Hanoi. The failed summit didn’t flop because the two leaders didn’t like each other. Rather, neither man could agree to a deal that he felt was not in his nation's interest.
So on one hand, the fact that Trump feels he has a personal connection with Kim is a positive. On the other hand, this relationship has done little to permanently alter North Korea’s nuclear program.
After the first Trump-Kim meeting last summer, Trump declared the nuclear threat from North Korea was over. But his own intelligence officials are skeptical that North Korea is willing to denuclearize. And since the second summit, reports say that North Korea has been rebuilding missile test facilities that it had partially dismantled after last year’s summit.
So as the president moves forward, he should recalibrate his expectations about what he can achieve through his personal diplomacy.
Leader-to-leader diplomacy is a tool that presidents can leverage for the benefit of the United States. But it’s only one tool and perhaps not even the most important. If the United States and North Korea are going to reach a deal, the Trump-Kim relationship can help, but it won’t be the deciding factor.
The president shouldn’t forget whom he’s dealing with. Kim is a brutal dictator. Not too long ago, Trump called him a “madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people.” At the end of the day, Kim is looking out for his own welfare, not that of the United States.
So, although Trump may see Kim as a friend, international relations are based on more than friendship, because friendships can end. As former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once said, “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.”
*Tizoc Chavez is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science. His research focuses on interactions between world leaders, with a particular interest in diplomacy of the American presidency. His current project explores the origins, development, and use of leader-to-leader diplomacy by American presidents from the nation’s founding to the present, with particular focus on the 20th century. He received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2016.
MaineWriter: So.....is Trump still in love with Kim Jung Un? Unfortunately, Donald Trump has weird diplomatic tastes and demonstrates unusual deference for tyrants and dictators.
Labels: The Tennessean, Tizoc Chavez, Vanderbilt University
posted by Juliana L'Heureux | 9:36 PM
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