Now we know for sure why Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is being shipped off to North Korea again after his last trip was canceled.
The White House began laying the ground work for a second summit with Kim Jong-un last month after Trump received a flattering letter from the North Korean dictator, but Pompeo's next trip to North Korea was just announced this week.
In what I'm sure is not a coincidence, Trump revealed yesterday that he received another letter from Kim Jong-un.
President Donald Trump revealed during a meeting Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that he had received an “extraordinary” new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he says he will meet soon for a second time.
Trump brandished the letter before reporters during the meeting with Abe on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said he received an “extraordinary letter just yesterday” from Kim but did not say what the dictator had written.
If it all it takes is a monthly love letter to Trump, I'm certain Kim Jong-un can successfully buy as much time as he needs to do whatever he wants to do.
It's really quite remarkable that this is all it takes. Who needs negotiations or hard diplomacy when you can just tell Trump how great he is?
I would suggest that China should consider taking a similar approach when dealing with Trump, but they have far too much dignity and self-respect for that. Kim Jong-un, on the other hand, doesn't have to earn or maintain the respect of his people. If they don't celebrate him, they will literally be killed. Kim Jong-un also controls everything his people see and hear so they probably have no idea that he's rhetorically blowing Trump on a monthly basis. As far as they know, their dear leader is heroically facing down the United States.
All things considered, maybe that's not an entirely wrong impression.