We are cautiously optimistic that a peace deal between the United States and North Korea can be reached but let’s not call it a success just yet.
Ignore the media and its criticism of a deal that has not occurred yet. But also be just as cautious of over enthusiastically declaring the deal an unqualified success.
When President Donald Trump met with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un at a resort in Singapore this week, it had all the makings of a successful moment in American history; think Nixon going to China or Reagan at Reykjavík. While we do not implicitly trust the North Korean dictator, we must trust our American president and the team of diplomats working behind the scenes. We know that they have our nation’s interest at the forefront of their minds. President Reagan once said, “A president’s first duty is protecting the peace by guarding us from foreign attack and ensuring the safety of our country and the future of our children.” President Trump’s commitment to peace is yet another example of that solemn duty.
We agree with the analysis put forward by The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro, that President Trump’s strategy of North Korea’s full denuclearization in exchange for the economic sanctions relief from the U.S., is “high risk, high reward” for the administration. If it works, it is a monumental moment for the president, and the peoples of both nations. If Kim Jong Un is playing our government once again, as he has in the past, then it makes President Trump appear weak among the American people and our allies across the globe.
Unlike the media, we will hold off critiquing a deal that has not even happened yet. However, here are three points we at Conservative First are encouraged by with the summit and three things we are disappointed with:
The Good:
1. President Trump was not afraid to cancel the summit when the North Koreans were being hostile to his administration.
The president and his advisers are showing strength with Kim and his regime. If Kim is not serious about denuclearization, then fine, starve your people; but if you are serious, then stop the aggressive tone and come to the negotiation table with a willingness to get a deal done.
2. Trump is serious about our safety.
Presidents from Truman to Obama all failed to handle the serious threat on the Korean peninsula. Trump has shown that he is serious about our nation’s security and is showing the courage to face it. Pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal is a prime example. Stopping the North Koreans from continuing and expanding their nuclear program is yet another illustration of the president’s seriousness to protect the United States when his predecessor did the exact opposite.
3. Trump understands the failures of the past
The Trump administration wants to get this right. No more failed attempts by paying lip service to denuclearize only to be snookered once again by a member of the Kim family. In previous attempts, we took the word of the North Koreans that they were serious. They never were. As President Trump has shown before, he has the courage to stand up to our enemies (Iran, Syria) and to bad deals concerning the United States (Paris climate agreement; Iran nuclear deal), and despite the media’s insistence otherwise, the world knows he is serious.
The Bad:
1. Saluting the dictator.
This may seem like a cheap shot, but President Trump must be more cautious in these situations and avoid the trap of the camera. The photo of President Trump saluting the Korean official, circulating throughout the media now is being used to demonstrate the president’s naïvety. However, when one views the video, it clearly shows the innocence of the president and the official awkwardly mistaking each others’ movements. What’s more, rather than explain the mistake, the administration claims it was common courtesy. We could have done without the saluting a regime official who executes family members and starves his own people. When President Obama bowed to the Japanese emperor in 2009, conservatives were rightly outraged at the spectacle. We should feel the same today at the site of President Trump raising his hand to Supreme Leader Kim.
2. Not enough concessions
President Trump and his team failed to get the North Korean leader to sign anything of real significance that shows how serious Kim is on ridding his country of nuclear weapons. As we mentioned earlier, we will reserve criticism until we see a final deal. This summit was merely the first step in a long-lasting deal that favors the United States and brings peace to the peninsula in particular and the world in general. The North Koreans have pledged concessions in previous negotiating meetings over the past six decades. President Trump and his administration must insist from the Kim regime that any relief from economic sanctions must be preceded by North Korea’s acceptance of complete denuclearization with verification and their unwavering commitment to stopping their human rights abuses. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo clarified after the summit that no sanctions relief will occur until this happens. Let’s hope the failures of the past do not reemerge.
3. Taking military options off the table
We certainly do not want war, especially a nuclear war, with any enemy unless absolutely necessary. But we think it was a mistake for the president to take this option off the table. As President Reagan showed in the 1980s, peace through strength can bring an end to a war, even it was a cold one. The build up of nuclear weapons and our military during the Reagan presidency showed the Soviet Union that we were serious about ending communist threats around the globe. Reagan did not waver and President Trump should not either when it comes to military might.
All in all, the summit was a great first step in bringing a terrorist regime to its knees. We may not understand (does anyone truly understand?) President Trump’s negotiating strategy. We trust him and trust those surrounding him. If the North Koreans ultimately denuclearize and become a better nation for it, the American people will look back at the Singapore summit as one of President Donald Trump’s greatest achievements. Considering the successes he has accomplished so far, that is quite the compliment.
