Trump called off Pompeo's North Korea visit after belligerent letter - report

[webfact]

Trump called off Pompeo's North Korea visit after belligerent letter - report

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump called off a visit to North Korea by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo after the latter received a belligerent letter from a senior North Korean official just hours after the trip was announced last week, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

 

The Post quoted two unnamed senior U.S. administration officials as saying the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party Central Committee, who led previous rounds of talks with Pompeo.

 

The newspaper said the exact contents of the message were unclear, but it was sufficiently belligerent that Trump and Pompeo decided to call off the journey.

 

The planned trip had been announced the previous day for this week and Pompeo had intended to introduce a newly named special envoy, Stephen Biegun, to his North Korean counterparts.

 

The White House referred queries on the Washington Post report to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

In cancelling Pompeo's trip, Trump publicly acknowledged for the first time that his effort to get North Korea to denuclearize had stalled since his June 12 summit with its leader, Kim Jong Un.

 

On Sunday, North Korea's state media accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against the country, but did not mention Pompeo's cancelled visit.

 

U.S. intelligence and defence officials have repeatedly expressed doubts about North Korea's willingness to give up its nuclear weapons and did not expect Pompeo's trip to yield positive results.

 

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-08-28

[YetAnother]

6 minutes ago, webfact said:

the letter came on Friday from Kim Yong Chol,

yeah that guy has quite the reputation; imagine having to deal with people like that on a daily basis

[mtls2005]

Flag at full staff: go to DPRK

 

Flag at half-staff: do not go to DPRK

 

No flag: rockets in flight?

 

 

[spidermike007]

Tiny Don. The art of I cannot negotiate my way out of a paper bag. The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life. He has a horrendous lack of negotiating skill. Say you like me. Kim paid me some compliments, and I canceled our long standing military exercises with South Korea. What did I get in return? Compliments and really, really delicious chocolate. Nothing else. He just said nice things to me, so I made some concessions. Boy am I tough! And smart too. I give myself an A+. 

 

Tiny Don is one of the most dangerous men in the world, as he has no idea what he is doing, he never studies an issue, he hires only incompetent people, he destroys treaties, ruins our valuable relationships with allies, and compliments and coddles dictators. He is easily manipulated and outplayed by his opponents with a few well placed compliments, and he is an unstable non genius and a criminal. Lock him up! 

 

Always remember one thing, as his trusted advisor said, truth is not truth. 

[car720]

Poor old Donald.  Everyone is always his friend after he meets them.   

[John1012]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

Tiny Don. The art of I cannot negotiate my way out of a paper bag. The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life. He has a horrendous lack of negotiating skill. Say you like me. Kim paid me some compliments, and I canceled our long standing military exercises with South Korea. What did I get in return? Compliments and really, really delicious chocolate. Nothing else. He just said nice things to me, so I made some concessions. Boy am I tough! And smart too. I give myself an A+. 

 

Tiny Don is one of the most dangerous men in the world, as he has no idea what he is doing, he never studies an issue, he hires only incompetent people, he destroys treaties, ruins our valuable relationships with allies, and compliments and coddles dictators. He is easily manipulated and outplayed by his opponents with a few well placed compliments, and he is an unstable non genius and a criminal. Lock him up! 

 

Always remember one thing, as his trusted advisor said, truth is not truth. 

So speaks another successful patriotic billionaire who was chosen by the voters of the USA to be president, shit I made an error, it was just an opinionated keyboard person, my bad,  9000+ posts, very successful,  offering an opinion from his pinnacle of achievement.

[spidermike007]

53 minutes ago, John1012 said:

So speaks another successful patriotic billionaire who was chosen by the voters of the USA to be president, shit I made an error, it was just an opinionated keyboard person, my bad,  9000+ posts, very successful,  offering an opinion from his pinnacle of achievement.

 

First of all, he was not chosen by the voters. As you may recall, he lost by 3,000,000 votes. So, he was chosen by the electoral college, not the majority of Americans. Your statement is amusing. You mention Trump and the word patriotic in the same sentence? What is that all about? What has he ever done for his nation? His five deferrments, when he was called upon to serve? His five bankruptcies, that put thousands of families, and investors, out of billions of dollars? His 3,600 lawsuits, mostly by small contractors who invested their sweat and cash and blood into jobs on his properties, only to be stiffed, or offered 20 cents on the dollar when the work was completed?

 

Are you referring to his tax cuts? A huge boost for corporations, but nothing for middle or lower class people? His tariffs, which amount to a huge tax hike on the American people? His destruction of long held alliances, and his weakening of NATO, playing into the hands of his dear friend Putin, whom he threw his nation under the bus for? 

 

Please explain. What have I missed here? 

 

Lastly, I have never considered a man's net worth to be a measure of the man, nor an indication of "success". Success to me is a life well lived, a life spent showing regard and respect for others, and a living earned with a sense of fair play, grace, fulfillment, legacy, dignity and honor. That is my version of success. A lot of money is fairly easy to make, if you are willing to disregard all social etiquette, and conduct business as a game of warfare. That is not for me. And I do not respect those who live their lives with that level of disregard for others.

[Tug]

Donald is playing checkers Kim is playing chess but I would caution Kim Donald is desperately looking for a life preserver he might feel a war would save him he is sick that way we live in dangerous times especially now when the shallow baby bitch has his back to the wall

[spidermike007]

10 minutes ago, Tug said:

Donald is playing checkers Kim is playing chess but I would caution Kim Donald is desperately looking for a life preserver he might feel a war would save him he is sick that way we live in dangerous times especially now when the shallow baby bitch has his back to the wall

 

A war with either North Korea or Iran is potentially unwinable for the US. Plus the American people have no appetite for another war, after the debacle of Iraq and  Afghanistan. N. Korea or Iran could end up costing the US trillions, there could be countless lives lost on both sides, and it could end up with both a stalemate, and untold consequences. It is easy for the nitwits in Washington to throw around threats. Most of whom have never fought a war (with the exception of Kelly, and he is pretty much a White House ornament at this point), would not have to sacrifice their fortunes, nor their offspring, and have little understanding of what a war might result in, as they are not in possession of vision.

 

Both North Korea and Iran are powerhouses, when it comes to cyber, and their willingness to commit terror. They could cripple the electrical grid in the US, they could go after the defense satellites, they could launch or fund terror attacks on US soil, and countless other ways of harming the US, that these nimrod numskulls are probably not considering, or taking seriously. 

 

A war with either could ensure the end of American empire, which is on the wane anyway. 

 

 

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, John1012 said:

So speaks another successful patriotic billionaire who was chosen by the voters of the USA to be president, shit I made an error, it was just an opinionated keyboard person, my bad,  9000+ posts, very successful,  offering an opinion from his pinnacle of achievement.

And he is more successful at it than you are.

[Trouble]

All the posts about Trump being a bad President, negotiator, etc., is just crap. What Trump did was make the effort to go see Kim about denuclearization, something no previous President did. If Kim has played Trump in the short run, it's probably a stupid move. Trump had nothing to loose in the summit and everything to gain. Trump opened the door for negotiations.  No one said it was going to be an easy task.  Trump has never claimed the problem is solved, only that they had talks which he hoped would lead to denuclearization. As far as cancelling the war games, it's no great risk to the US or South Korea. Military cooperation is still active and games can be undertaken whenever the parties decide to do it again. North Korea has not launched test rockets or had nuclear testing so let's give it some time for the people in the Trump administration and the North Koreans to see if there can be positive results. Seems to me that if Kim crosses Trump, the US will only apply more pressure on the DPRK economy.  Give it a little time and don't be so quick to say nothing has worked.  

[Redline]

2 hours ago, Trouble said:

All the posts about Trump being a bad President, negotiator, etc., is just crap. What Trump did was make the effort to go see Kim about denuclearization, something no previous President did. If Kim has played Trump in the short run, it's probably a stupid move. Trump had nothing to loose in the summit and everything to gain. Trump opened the door for negotiations.  No one said it was going to be an easy task.  Trump has never claimed the problem is solved, only that they had talks which he hoped would lead to denuclearization. As far as cancelling the war games, it's no great risk to the US or South Korea. Military cooperation is still active and games can be undertaken whenever the parties decide to do it again. North Korea has not launched test rockets or had nuclear testing so let's give it some time for the people in the Trump administration and the North Koreans to see if there can be positive results. Seems to me that if Kim crosses Trump, the US will only apply more pressure on the DPRK economy.  Give it a little time and don't be so quick to say nothing has worked.  

You are wrong-do your own research ?

[Benmart]

3 hours ago, Redline said:

You are wrong-do your own research ?

Please present your research, which is more challenging than a mere on sentence retort.

[stevenl]

12 minutes ago, Benmart said:

Please present your research, which is more challenging than a mere on sentence retort.

Do you really think contradicting blatently incorrect statements like " Trump has never claimed the problem is solved " needs to be researched?

[bristolboy]

7 hours ago, Trouble said:

.  Trump has never claimed the problem is solved, only that they had talks which he hoped would lead to denuclearization. 

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Trump said president Barack Obama told him before he took office that the "most dangerous problem" for the United States was North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

"I have solved that problem," Trump said. "Now we're getting it memorialized and all but that problem is largely solved."

https://www.france24.com/en/20180615-trump-claims-he-has-largely-solved-north-korea-problem

[Redline]

17 hours ago, Benmart said:

Please present your research, which is more challenging than a mere on sentence retort.

Nope, you can figure out your own mistakes-that’s how you learn 

[bristolboy]

It's all China's fault.

Trump thanks North Korea's Kim for 'unwavering faith'

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/06/trump-thanks-north-korea-809124