LogFAQs > #903171013

No, if it was a waste of time that would have been an improvement on what actually happened.

Trump has shut down the joint military exercises with South Korea (even using North Korea's terminology in calling them "war games"); he's talking about downsizing and removing the US troop presence there (one of the few footholds America has in Eastern Asia to serve as a check on an increasingly imperialistic China); he lavished the world's most violent and destructive dictator with effusive praise that wouldn't have been out of place coming from one of Kim's own toadies; he gave Kim a massive PR victory and equal status with the leader of the free world; China has announced it is lifting sanctions and Trump gives nary a whisper of objection; he's now even going so far as to insist that North Korea "is no longer a nuclear threat".

Now, this isn't in and of itself a dealbreaker. I could understand using any or all of the above as bargaining chips in return for concessions from North Korea.

But what did Trump actually get? Vague promises at best. For all the blather about "CVID" and how Trump swore that's what he would extract from North Korea, he didn't manage any part of that acronym. Nothing complete, no verification, nothing irreversible, and the two sides haven't even agreed on what they mean by "denuclearization". Human rights? Barely mentioned. Access for inspectors? Not discussed. Trump says that North Korea isn't a nuclear threat anymore, yet their arsenal today is exactly the same size as it was yesterday. The deal that Trump signed is far weaker than the previous agreements secured with North Korea (agreements which, it bears repeating, North Korea flagrantly ignored after it had secured aid). Hell, Trump just finished tearing up a far more comprehensive and effective treaty in the Iran deal after criticizing it as "the worst deal ever".

Trump got absolutely fleeced here. Kim played the entire conference masterfully. He appealed to Trump's massive ego and dangled a prize that he knew the president would not be able to resist - the ability to claim something none of his predecessors could - and got him totally invested in "making the deal". Then he took Trump for everything he was worth and Trump was so desperate for a "win" that he got suckered into it. I honestly can't think of many ways this conference could have gone better for North Korea (or China or Russia for that matter); the US is voluntarily ceding its influence in East Asia and North Korea hasn't actually had to do anything to earn it.

Honestly, I thought the smartest thing Trump did with this whole fiasco was when he initially cancelled it. Yes, it gave North Korea a PR victory, but that's small potatoes compared to what Trump gave up here.
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