Every nuke or you get nothing in return

It has now come out that Trump told Kim Jong-un at the Hanoi summit: "I want all your nukes and ballistic missiles and chemical and biological weapons and then and only then will I consider lifting sanctions". Wow, no wonder the North Korean leader looked so pissed off when the summit came to an abrupt end. No sympathy from me but it does seem a little extraordinary that not even the smallest carrot was offered while the big stick was being wielded. Trump made it clear it had to be all or nothing. So it was nothing. Kim went back to his paLace in Pyongyang and ordered his nuclear and missile boys to start rebuilding a missile site which he had started to dismantle. So not exactly progress, Mr President. Knowing what he had told Kim, Trump still went back to Washington saying he thought there would be room for negotiations in future. But in the real brutal world where nukes are king, I can't see Kim contemplating a third summit unless he gets the indication - nay, promise - of something coming his way if he steps closer towards Trump's demands. John Bolton, national security adviser, is the man behind Trump dictating the language. He is a rabid opponent of North Korea and its nuclear dreams and clearly advised Trump to stand firm and give nothing away. I wonder if Mike Pompeo, secretary of state and nominally in charge of the negotiations, agreed with the stand insisted on by Bolton who, in his job, is strictly an adviser, albeit the most important one, and doesn't have a department to run like Pompeo. Obviously the hardline Bolton is leading the field right now and has both of Trump's ears. The trouble is, having taken an all-or-nothing approach, how on earth can you soften that in the future if you still want to be seen as tough and strong and unrelenting which is what Bolton wants. It's a bold but, I'm afraid, self-defeating strategy because it will drive Kim back into the trenches and he won't want to talk again with his friend in the White House. He will just rely on China as ever. Meanwhile, apparently Jimmy Carter has offered at the age of 94 to return to North Korea - the only US president ever to have been, when Kim's grandfather was the boss - to see if he can sort it all out. Will Trump want that? No!