Day 301: Trump Gets Played By China

Donald Trump returned from his Asia trip, triumphantly bragging about all of his accomplishments, including his friendship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Then he took a potshot at The New York Times for alleged ignorance on foreign policy.

Only, the Chinese are playing Trump when it comes to North Korea.

At every turn during his trip, Trump insisted that the US’s goal was North Korea’s denuclearization. He stressed the “grave threat” he said the rogue nuclear nation posed to millions in the region and around the world.

But China seems to have rejected the idea of denuclearization and instead wants the US to settle for a freeze in North Korea’s nuclear program in exchange for a freeze in the US’s military drills with South Korea.

On Wednesday, Trump said he and Xi “agreed that we would not accept a so-called freeze-for-freeze agreement like those that have consistently failed in the past.”

On Thursday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang, said a dual suspension, the Chinese’s preferred term for the “freeze-for-freeze” deal, was the “most feasible, fair, and sensible plan in the present situation.”

Trump claimed China agreed to Thing A, only for China to come out immediately and say that they only believe Thing B to be a reasonable solution in North Korea. (Even South Korea agrees more with the practicality of China’s position than that of the U.S.)

This morning Trump tweeted about China sending an envoy into North Korea, but it doesn’t appear as if he has any real idea what’s going on.

For someone who did a whole lot of boasting about his handling of foreign policy in Asia and the various accomplishments of his trip, Trump doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of knowledge about the present situation in North Korea and the various players’ positions.

301 days in, 1161 to go

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