Dem senator: ‘Pretty clear’ Kim wants one-on-one with Trump to ‘elicit concessions’

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Sunday expressed concern that President Trump may give up more concessions than he receives in his meeting this week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“Right now, it’s pretty clear that Kim wants to have a personal meeting with Trump with hopes that he can, in fact, elicit concessions from President Trump that might not otherwise be possible if it was just our diplomats talking one-on-one,” Markey said on “Face the Nation” on CBS.

“Nothing is clear, and I think as a result we could run the risk that Kim is given concessions which are not accompanied by real concessions that the United States is receiving in return from Kim and his regime,” he added.

.@SenMarkey says @realDonaldTrump “has to be very careful” next week in his meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. pic.twitter.com/C2wnnyoBOY

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) February 24, 2019

{mosads}Markey, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Trump has “to be very careful” going into his summit with Kim in Hanoi, Vietnam. The senator said the Trump administration should receive codified commitments on denuclearization before committing to anything in return.

The president will depart on Monday for the meetings in Vietnam, where he is expected to meet with Kim on Wednesday and Thursday.

Trump has been optimistic heading into his second meeting with Kim. He has suggested North Korea could become an economic power if it abandoned its nuclear arsenal, and on Sunday morning said the two leaders “expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore.”

It’s unclear what specifics might come from this week’s meeting, as senior administration officials provided few answers during a call with reporters on what to expect.

The officials did indicate a priority for the summit is reaching an agreed definition of denuclearization, something that negotiators have yet to establish.