Day 414: Trump to Take Huge Gamble, Meet Kim Jong-Un

Trump has a history of coming up short with foreign leaders.

Donald Trump surprisingly announced late Thursday that he would accept an invitation to meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un. If the meeting goes forward, it would be the first time a sitting U.S. president meets with a North Korean leader.

There are a lot of details to hammer out, including where the meeting will take place, who will be in attendance and what will be discussed.

The announcement was sudden, and a rapid shift from the rhetoric by Mike Pence and Rex Tillerson earlier in the week.

The meeting carries huge risk. First, North Korean leaders have tried to meet with American leaders for decades, but have largely been rebuffed. By taking the meeting, Trump gives inherent credibility to North Korea. On top of that, the primary goal of diplomacy with North Korea would be complete denuclearization, which seems wholly unlikely.

More than anything, the meeting is a gamble because Trump and Kim are both short-tempered and Trump has a history of choking in meetings with foreign leaders.

• Trump ignored German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s request to shake hands, refused to get into actual policy discussions and waited until she was gone to talk tough — via Twitter, of course — about things Germany needed to do.
• When Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg came to the White House, Trump rambled on about how great Norway’s water was, blasted Hillary Clinton, ranted about the Russia investigation, bragged about his electoral college victory and invented a plane that the U.S. allegedly sold to Norway.
• In Paris, Trump awkwardly refused to let go of French President Emmanuel Macron’s hand for a half minute and commented on Macron’s wife’s physique.
• Speaking with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto by phone, Trump threatened to send American troops into Mexico to deal with “bad hombres,” and later that day hung up on Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after being told Turnbull would not renege on a deal regarding refugees. Trump bragged to both men about the size of the crowd at his inauguration.
• Trump awkwardly grabbed and refused to release Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hand during one meeting and on calls with Asian leaders at other points asked why Japanese samurai warriors — who haven’t existed since the 1860s — didn’t shoot down North Korean missiles during tests.
• When in China, despite years of bluster regarding games China played in currency manipulation and trade, Trump cowered by criticizing Americans and praising Chinese ingenuity.
• During a summit of NATO leaders, Trump shoved aside Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.

Bottom line: Trump has a history of coming up short at meetings with foreign leaders. Should this patter continue, it’s potentially catastrophic considering the stakes for a North Korea meeting and Trump’s previous childish, antagonistic rhetoric toward North Korea and Kim.

What adds another layer of danger to such a meeting is the fact that the U.S. is flying more blind than ever in the region: the State Department has slashed staff across the board, lacks senior diplomats experienced in dealing with North Korea (including losing its top diplomat to a surprising retirement last month), and after 14 months still has no permanent ambassador to South Korea.

414 days in, 1048 to go

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