Conservative writer Bre Payton on Monday said she was dismayed by President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore, asking how the president could not talk about “human rights abuses at all.”
She then noted that she thinks the American people will forgive the “giant blunder” if it results in better relations between the two countries.
“I was really upset when Donald Trump decided to meet with Kim Jong Un, shake his hand on the stage, have North Korean and American flags hung next to one another, I was honestly very, very upset by that — not talking human rights abuses at all, I mean how can you even do that?” Payton told Hill.TV’s Ned Ryun and Krystal Ball on “Rising.”
“However, I think the American people are willing to forgive that, in my opinion, giant blunder if it does result in better relations between North Korea and the United States,” she added.
Payton also said she wasn’t surprised by Trump’s decision to call off Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned visit to North Korea, which was scheduled for next week.
“We all knew that North Korea wasn’t going to denuclearize. … This is the one trick that they have,” she said.
In June, Trump became the first sitting American president to meet face-to-face with a North Korean leader. Together, the two leaders signed a joint statement that committed North Korea “to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
But little has materialized from the denuclearization deal and negotiations remain at a standstill.
Trump announced on Friday that Pompeo won’t be going to North Korea after all, saying the meeting was not appropriate “at this time” due to the lack of “sufficient progress” on denuclearization.
This marked a rare admission by Trump that denuclearization is not going as well as hoped.
But the president left talks open and didn’t rule out a future meeting with North Korea.
“Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved,” Trump tweeted.
The Treasury Department on Wednesday targeted a Chinese shipping firm and its Singapore-based affiliate for violating sanctions and aiding North Korea.
— Tess Bonn
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