PLACE ON EARTH AND SAW MY DAUGHTER.
DAUGHTER. WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL WEEKEND.
I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A GREAT
WEEKEND.
WEEKEND. LET’S TALK ABOUT PRESIDENT
TRUMP’S WEEKEND BECAUSE HE IS ON
HIS WAY BACK TO WASHINGTON THIS
MORNING AFTER SPENDING THE
MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND IN JAPAN.
THERE HE MET WITH U.S. TROOPS
AND ALSO DOWNPLAYED THE RECENT
MISSILE TEST BY NORTH KOREA.
DURING THE COURSE OF HIS VISIT
TRUMP SUGGESTED THAT HE WAS NOT
PERSONALLY BOTHERED BY THE
SHORT-RANGE MISSILE TEST CARRIED
OUT BY PYONGYANG EARLIER THIS
MONTH.
MONTH. IN A TWEET ON SATURDAY, THE
PRESIDENT WROTE, NORTH KOREA
FIRED OFF SOME SMALL WEAPONS
WHICH DISTURBED SOME OF MY
PEOPLE AND OTHERS, BUT NOT ME.
I HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT CHAIRMAN
KIM WILL KEEP HIS PROMISE AND
ALSO SMILED WHEN HE CALLED SWAMP
MAN JOE BIDEN, SPELL IT WRONG, A
LOW IQ INDIVIDUAL AND WORSE.
PERHAPS THAT’S SENDING ME A
SIGNAL.
SIGNAL. THE PRESIDENT INITIALLY SPELLED
BIDEN’S NAME WRONG BUT CORRECTED
IT IN A FOLLOW-UP TWEET.
THE PRESIDENT MADE THAT CLAIM
DESPITE THE FACT THAT THOSE KIND
OF MISSILES POSE A POTENTIAL
SECURITY THREAT TO U.S. ALLIES
IN THE REGION, INCLUDING JAPAN.
DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE
YESTERDAY FOLLOWING HOURS OF
TALK BETWEEN THE TWO LEADERS
JAPAN’S PRIME MINISTER SHINZO
ABE STANDING NEXT TO TRUMP
DISAGREED WITH THE PRESIDENT’S
ASSESSMENT OF THE MISSILE TESTS,
SAYING IT VIOLATED U.N. SECURITY
COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS.
COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE TEST, THE
PRESIDENT WHO IT MUST HAVE BEEN
REALLY HOT IN THERE, OFFERED
THIS ASSESSMENT.
THIS ASSESSMENT. >> MY PEOPLE THINK IT COULD HAVE
BEEN A VIOLATION, AS YOU KNOW.
I VIEW IT DIFFERENTLY.
I VIEW IT AS A MAN, PERHAPS HE
WANTS TO GET ATTENTION, AND
PERHAPS NOT.
PERHAPS NOT. WHO KNOWS?
WHO KNOWS? IT DOESN’T MATTER.
ALL I KNOW IS THAT THERE HAVE
BEEN NO NUCLEAR TESTS, THERE
HAVE BEEN NO BALLISTIC MISSILES
GOING OUT, THERE HAVE BEEN NO
LONG RANGE MISSILES GOING OUT
AND I THINK THAT SOME DAY WE
WILL HAVE A DEAL.
I’M NOT IN A RUSH.
TREMENDOUS SANCTIONS BEING PUT
ON THE COUNTRY OF NORTH KOREA
AND, AGAIN, KIM JONG-UN
UNDERSTANDS THE UNBELIEVABLE
ECONOMIC POTENTIAL THAT COUNTRY
HAS.
HAS. >> ALL RIGHT.
JOE, WHAT DO YOU THINK?
>> WELL, I DON’T REALLY
UNDERSTAND -- I DON’T
UNDERSTAND, FIRST OF ALL, WHY
YOU WOULD SAY THAT THE MISSILES
CAUSE YOU NO CONCERN WHEN YOU’RE
ACTUALLY IN A COUNTRY, ONE OF
OUR CLOSEST ALLIES, THAT THESE
MISSILES POSE A DIRECT THREAT
TO.
TO. THAT’S, OF COURSE, DISTURBING.
I’M GOING TO ASK RICHARD HAASS
ABOUT THAT.
ABOUT THAT. SECONDLY, OF COURSE, WE TALK
ABOUT DONALD TRUMP SHATTERING
THE NORMS OF THE PRESIDENCY,
SHATTERING THE NORMS OF
DEMOCRATIC VALUES, OF AMERICAN
VALUES AS A LEADER.
WHAT IS MORE SHATTERING OF THOSE
NORMS THAN WHEN YOU HAVE THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
ACTUALLY SAYING THAT HE WAS
SMILING AT THE FACT THAT THE
COMMUNIST DICTATOR OF A COUNTRY
THAT’S LONG BEEN AN ENEMY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAS
SENDING HIM A SECRET SIGNAL BY
ATTACKING A DOMESTIC POLITICAL
OPPONENT.
OPPONENT. THAT IS, OF COURSE, THAT
SHATTERS DEMOCRATIC NORMS, IT’S
ALSO VERY DANGEROUS AND IT’S
WHAT HE DID FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN
HE TRIED TO TALK DIRECTLY TO
RUSSIA AND TOLD THEM TO TRY TO
GET HILLARY CLINTON’S EMAILS.
RICHARD HAASS, EVERYBODY KNOWS
THIS ABOUT DONALD TRUMP BY NOW,
BUT WE HAVE TO RESTATE IT.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE BIGGER
PICTURE HERE.
PICTURE HERE. IS THERE A BIGGER PICTURE?
DONALD TRUMP, IS HE WORKING
TOWARDS A DEAL THAT WE DON’T
KNOW ABOUT?
KNOW ABOUT? IS THAT WHY HE’S IGNORING THE
NORTH KOREANS RUBBING HIS NOSE
IN MUD SEEMINGLY EVERY MONTH?
>> WELL, IF HE’S WORKING TOWARDS
A DEAL, AS YOU SAY, IT’S A DEAL
WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT.
HE BASICALLY SAID HE WANTS
DENUCLEARIZATION, THAT IS NOT
GOING TO HAPPEN.
I THINK THE ODDS OF IT HAPPENING
ARE ABOUT ZERO.
HE PROBABLY COULD HAVE A DEAL,
JOE, IF HE’S WILLING TO
COMPROMISE, THAT WE WOULD GIVE
NORTH KOREA SOME SANCTIONS
RELIEF IN EXCHANGE FOR SOME
DEGREE OF LIMITS, PRESUMABLY
VERIFIED.
VERIFIED. BUT IN THE MEANTIME, THE
PRESIDENT KEEPS SAYING HE IS NOT
IN A RUSH AND HE OUGHT TO BE A
LITTLE BIT IN A RUSH.
THE KIND OF TEST NORTH KOREA DID
THE OTHER WAY IS A WAY THEY
COULD LEARN CERTAIN THINGS THAT
COULD BE INTRODUCED INTO LONGER
RANGE MISSILES.
RANGE MISSILES. >> LET ME ASK YOU THIS, RICHARD,
ON CHINA THERE IS AN EXAMPLE OF
THE PRESIDENT BUMBLING HIS WAY
THROUGH ON CHINA, BUT IF YOU
LOOK AT 30,000 FEET MOST
AMERICANS ARE GLAD THE PRESIDENT
IS GETTING TOUGH ON CHINA.
FINALLY A PRESIDENT IS GETTING
TOUGH ON CHINA.
EVEN THOUGH HE HAS NO GAME PLAN,
HE IS A DAY TRADER.
SO IT’S GOING TO END BADLY, BUT
HIS INSTINCT THERE IS RIGHT.
WHAT ABOUT ON NORTH KOREA WHERE
WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE
POSSIBILITY OF A WAR A YEAR AGO,
IS HIS INSTINCT NOT RIGHT ON
NORTH KOREA TO TRY, FIRST OF
ALL, TO IGNORE JOHN BOLTON AND
OTHER PEOPLE WHO WOULD LOVE TO
GO TO WAR ON THE KOREAN
PENINSULA, BUT ARE HIS INSTINCTS
CORRECT, TO PLAY THIS OUT, TO
CONTINUE TO GIVE THEM A LITTLE
MORE SLACK IN HOPES OF GETTING A
DEAL?
DEAL? >> SHORT ANSWER IS NO.
HIS INSTINCT IS RIGHT NOT TO
WANT TO HAVE A WAR, BUT HIS
INSTINCT IS NOT RIGHT TO LET
THIS DRIFT.
THIS DRIFT. WE OUGHT TO PRESS FOR A DEAL
BECAUSE NORTH KOREA IS USING
TIME TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF
FISSILE MATERIAL IT HAS TO TEST
LIKE THEY DID THE OTHER DAY.
WHEN THE PRESIDENT BASICALLY
SAYS, JOE, THAT HE IS NOT
PARTICULARLY CONCERNED ABOUT THE
SHORTER-RANGE SYSTEMS, OBVIOUSLY
JAPAN IS BECAUSE THEY WOULD
REACH JAPAN, AND IT SENDS A
POWERFUL MESSAGE IF NORTH KOREA
WERE WILLING TO CUT A DEAL
WHERE, FOR EXAMPLE, IT LIMITED
SOME OF ITS LONG RANGE SYSTEMS
THAT MADE US HAPPY HE WOULD BE
WILLING TO THROW -- BE WILLING
TO THROW SOUTH KOREA ON JAPAN
UNDER THE BUS.
IT REINFORCES THE SENSE THAT
ALLIES ARE NOT A CONCERN FOR
HIM.
HIM. SO, AGAIN, I THINK THERE IS
POTENTIALLY A DEAL TO BE HAD OUT
THERE, ONE THAT WOULD BE