Saturday 29 June 2019

Trump up for a chat and a handshake with Kim Jong-un

It really is one of the most bizarre frendships on the planet right now. Donald Trump was in the region - ie Japan and South Korea - and just thought it would be nice if he popped over to see Kim Jong-un at the Panmunjom demilitarised border point between North Korea and South Korea. As Trump put it, to have a handshake and a hello. And why not? The better these two leaders get on with each other the less we in the rest of the universe have to worry about nuclear war and stuff. So, go on Kim and go on Trump, have your little chat and crack a few jokes. They have recently written loving leters to each other which went down well in the White House and at Kim's palace. So that's good. Trump's idea about a meet and greet with Kim in the next day or so came to him a few days ago apparently. It didn't come after a lengthy White House Situation Room deep debate with all his advisers about whether this was prudent or not. It was just Trump doing his thing, seemingly without first consulting everyone. I guess he must have mentioned it to Mike Pompeo, secretary of state, but perhaps not John Bolton who as national security adviser might have told him not to be so stupid. Anyway, I guess now it's in the wind it will actually happen. Not a summit, just a sit down and chat about the way of the world. Will it get any sort of results? Like a firm promise by Kim to change the course of history and give up his nuclear weapons? No I guess not. But for my money, provided the two men remain in love with each other and like meeting up, it has to be good news. Somehow I can't imagine a President Joe Biden doing this sort of instinctive foreign policy-making. He would be like Obama, endless debates to and fro and then maybe a decision to do nothing at this stage. Of course the Trump announcement could just be a PR stunt, and nothing else. But it's surely worth a try. Especially as he is in the region!

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