Day 858: Trump claims North Korea won’t develop nukes because of its ‘waterfront location’

It appears that the only person on Earth trying to spin two failed summits between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un as wins is Trump himself.

Pyongyang is still doing whatever it wants, including continuing to develop weapons and launch sites.

Trump, however, is increasingly isolated on the North Korea issue. Republicans in Congress don’t want to talk about it. When pressed, they will openly criticize Trump’s rhetoric and strategy.

Trump’s top aides disagree with his assessments.

Vitally important allies also throw water on Trump’s pro-Kim statements.

Where does Trump’s belief that a murderous dictator will change his ways stem from, besides an intense desire to score political points? Real estate.

But Trump portrayed the North Korean dictator as a leader who believes, as the president himself said he does, that his country has “tremendous economic potential,” but who understands he can’t develop it while still pursuing his nuclear ambitions.

“He knows that with nuclear, that’s never going to happen, only bad can happen,” Trump said. “He understands. He is a very smart man; he gets it.”

The president — a former real estate developer — also cast Kim’s opportunities through the lens of his previous passion. North Korea, the president said, is “located between Russia and China on one side, and South Korea on the other. It’s all waterfront property. It’s a great location, as we used to say in the real estate business.”

Yes, Trump is openly stating a belief that Kim — a member of a ruthless, desperate-to-keep-power family, who have been trying to acquire nuclear weapons for literally generations — will give up Pyongyang’s testing, research and work all because of the sudden realization that the North Korean border is on quite a bit of water.

858 days in, 604 to go

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