North Korea

[shu09]

You'll never hear it in the mainstream media, but Trump's strategy is clearly working. Kim Jong Un visits China to lay the groundwork for the coming meetings with South Korea and the US. The statement afterwards (keep in mind, this is just him and China) says he's committed to the denuclearization of the peninsula. That is a truly incredible development.

This has been the president's greatest strength since taking office. The key with North Korea is actually making them fear that we'll launch an attack. That is the only thing that gets them to move. Trump has played this long game perfectly so far.

Now he has to follow through during the summit in May and he just might solve a problem countless presidents and BS think tanks in DC couldn't.

 

[Pirata]

The developments in North Korea are certainly favorable.

Don't hold your breath waiting for the MSM to give him a shred of credit for it.

If Trump were to solve world hunger tomorrow they would find a way to detract from him.

I'm not sure if North Korea's motivation is based more on the pain of the sanctions versus Trump's threats.

I'd also like to know the extent to which Trump orchestrated having China be the one to carry the Trump message to North Korea.

This is a situation where I could care less who gets the credit for it. If North Korea is truly committed to denuclearizing I think that's a good thing for the world.

It's also a situation where I'll believe it when I see it.

On a side note that train that Kim Jong Un has is Kick-Ass. I wonder if they let him ride up in the cab and toot the horn as they roll through stations.

 

[HALL85]

Two things you can be sure of, if Kim agrees to denuke:
* The MSM will not give Trump any credit for it.
* Trump will take all the credit for it.

At the end of the day, I also don't care about credit, but only for the result. It's pretty clear though that Trump has had a lot of meetings with Xi, Putin and Abe and they just weren't talking about golf handicaps.

 

[cernjSHU]

I find it strange policy that the US needs China to help with North Korea yet Trump wants to impose tariffs on China and start a trade war. Seems like policies that are working against each other instead of working together.

 

[shu09]

I find it strange policy that the US needs China to help with North Korea yet Trump wants to impose tariffs on China and start a trade war. Seems like policies that are working against each other instead of working together.

Totally separate issues. What he's doing with China has to be done. They've taken advantage of us for far too long.

 

[HALL85]

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of any of these tariffs. For all we know this may be some kind of smokescreen. The odd thing is that Trump and Xi have had multiple meetings so this shouldn't be a surprise to China and at the same time we see Xi seemingly working very effectively with us on NK.

 

[Hall-line-forever]

China is an enemy of the USA and always wlll be. That entire southeast region will never be resolved through peaceful means as along as we are alive.

 

[cernjSHU]

China is an enemy of the USA and always wlll be. That entire southeast region will never be resolved through peaceful means as along as we are alive.

But Russia is our friend?

 

[Hall-line-forever]

No. No communist country can ever be our friends - North Korea, China, Russia, Venezuela, and many African countries.

 

[Merge]

Totally separate issues. What he's doing with China has to be done. They've taken advantage of us for far too long.

I don't disagree with that, but China is also one of the largest importers of US goods (3rd or so?) so as long as we are careful about not disrupting a balance where we are exporting less goods - I will give Trump time before I judge him on this.

I don't like his phrasing of the argument that we are a loser on trade because we import more than we export. I don't believe those numbers need to be equal to provide the best environment for the US economy.... but that may just be his rhetoric so we will see how it actually plays out.

 

[anon_ezos2e9wn1ob0]

I don't disagree with that, but China is also one of the largest importers of US goods (3rd or so?) so as long as we are careful about not disrupting a balance where we are exporting less goods - I will give Trump time before I judge him on this.

I don't like his phrasing of the argument that we are a loser on trade because we import more than we export. I don't believe those numbers need to be equal to provide the best environment for the US economy.... but that may just be his rhetoric so we will see how it actually plays out.

I travel for work in the Midwest and South. We need these tariffs to help make American mfg. competitive. I'm so sick of driving thru towns that were once beautiful and now are decimated because all the work has left. Meanwhile we sit fat and happy in NJ and NYC complaining how Trump tax reform hurts people with 2 homes.

 

[Merge]

I travel for work in the Midwest and South. We need these tariffs to help make American mfg. competitive. I'm so sick of driving thru towns that were once beautiful and now are decimated because all the work has left. Meanwhile we sit fat and happy in NJ and NYC complaining how Trump tax reform hurts people with 2 homes.

It’s not nearly that simple though. Tariffs are not going to bring jobs back, they could help stop the bleeding in some industries so US companies purchase US steel for example, but what about the tariffs imposed on us goods into other counties? How will those industries be impacted?

How many jobs would a decline in exports cost us?

How will the increased consumer prices impact our economy?

There is a balance and we don’t need to have imports = exports to have the best functioning US economy.

Like I said, I will give this time to play out as my understanding of economics and trade may be relying to heavily on textbooks - I just haven’t read much that says tarrifs will fix what you want it to fix.

 

[cernjSHU]

I travel for work in the Midwest and South. We need these tariffs to help make American mfg. competitive. I'm so sick of driving thru towns that were once beautiful and now are decimated because all the work has left. Meanwhile we sit fat and happy in NJ and NYC complaining how Trump tax reform hurts people with 2 homes.

No, Trump's tax cuts benefits the rich at the expense of driving up the debt. All that debt will be a greater burden than whether tariffs are imposed or not. US can't compete in manufacturing when Asian countries are paying workers $3.00 an hour.

 

[anon_ezos2e9wn1ob0]

No, Trump's tax cuts benefits the rich at the expense of driving up the debt. All that debt will be a greater burden than whether tariffs are imposed or not. US can't compete in manufacturing when Asian countries are paying workers $3.00 an hour.

All I know us I am far from rich and the extra 200 in my pocket every month allows me to put extra money in the bank and/or on m6 mortgage. Im not naive to think the rich are not benefiting as well, but Obama never gave a second thought about the middle class, he just opened the borders and gave handouts.

 

[Merge]

All I know us I am far from rich and the extra 200 in my pocket every month allows me to put extra money in the bank and/or on m6 mortgage. Im not naive to think the rich are not benefiting as well, but Obama never gave a second thought about the middle class, he just opened the borders and gave handouts.

 

[Pirate64]

Obama was smooth, sounded like a President, but left an international mess.
North Korea, ISIS, The Red Line, the Iran Deal, China's tariff advantage.
Putin's Crimea.

Trump sounds like a Las Vegas smart ass, is a bully and a braggart. And vulgar as hell.

But he's delivering on his campaign promises.

Ask Assat of Syria.

The Dems keep asking for a Syrian strategy. Here it is: 1. We are watching their every move and if they get out of line, there will be consequences.
2. We wil not try to unseat Assat until we are certain about his replacement.

 

[shu09]

You'll never hear it in the mainstream media, but Trump's strategy is clearly working. Kim Jong Un visits China to lay the groundwork for the coming meetings with South Korea and the US. The statement afterwards (keep in mind, this is just him and China) says he's committed to the denuclearization of the peninsula. That is a truly incredible development.

This has been the president's greatest strength since taking office. The key with North Korea is actually making them fear that we'll launch an attack. That is the only thing that gets them to move. Trump has played this long game perfectly so far.

Now he has to follow through during the summit in May and he just might solve a problem countless presidents and BS think tanks in DC couldn't.

bump

I'll give the mainstream media some credit here. I have seen a handful of articles giving the president credit for moving this process along. The jealousy and denial from some though (mostly establishment people and think tanks) is palpable though. They simply can't accept that Donald freaking Trump has been able to move the two Koreas this close to peace.

He has played his hand perfectly with North Korea. Foreign policy has been his greatest strength since taking office. He has decimated ISIS, enforced international law in Syria twice, handled China brilliantly (tough on trade, cooperative and strong on North Korea) and he has earned more favorable terms for the US when it comes to trade deals with other nations.

I laugh when I read columns about Macron or Merkel being the "new" leader of the free world. Hysterical. In the last week alone, Trump has hosted them both at the White House and it was crystal clear who was running the show. His foreign policy reminds me of Reagan. Peace through strength. America is reasserting itself as the strong and definitive leader of the free world.

Through a year and a quarter, Trump has exceeded my expectations overall. I didn't vote for him in 2016 but if he keeps up the good work, he'll earn my vote in 2020 (if he runs, no sure thing).

 

[Merge]

Foreign policy has been his greatest strength since taking office.

I agree with that. I don't think it is necessarily bad to view North Korea with some skepticism. History has taught us that we should, but the history isn't the fault of Trump's and clearly there is an appearance that things are moving in the right direction. I think the media portrayal (at least that I have seen) has been fair.

 

[HALL85]

Speaking to my dry-cleaner yesterday (who is a South Korean immigrant-15 years in US). He had an interesting take on what is going on. (Also has family in Seoul). He felt that part of Kim’s plan is to also preside with Moon over the unification of North and South Korea. De- nuclearization becomes a moot point if it becomes one country and it is governed by Moon and a unified government. He added he thinks that Kim (now 35), who actually spent most of his youth and was schooled in Switzerland may be tiring of leading NK. (Apparently he was more enamored with the NBA than school). Possible exit strategy where he is seen as negotiating with Xi, Moon and Trump and will go down in history as making it happen. Maybe also get amnesty from all human rights violations too. He said SK residents are excited about the prospect of unification (stronger economy and re-united families.)

Somewhat funny is that he does credit Trump for initiating these actions however he said he is nervous about Trump going back-and-forth every day and possibly screwing up something he started.

He believes in NK/SK can follow in the footsteps of what Vietnam did ( unification). He said back in the 60s and 70s NK had a pretty decent economy. Apparently they have a bunch of rich gold mines.