April 22, 2018

It’s Sunday Morning So Trump Is Tweet-Yelling at His TV Again. This Time About North Korea.

“Sleepy Eyes” is back.

Yomiuri Shimbun via AP

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Donald Trump is at his Florida resort today, with the television tuned into “Fake News NBC”, where anchor Chuck Todd was previewing his show, Meet the Press.

“There’s not many preconditions the United States is asking for so far in this potential summit,” Todd told Hallie Jackson, about the Trump administration’s planning around talks with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks. “North Koreans have gotten a lot out of it. What has the United States gotten yet?” (Watch the video here.)

Trump had seen enough. Time for Twitter:

One tiny thing: The only thing North Korea has publicly agreed to so far is halting nuclear testing. “From 21 April, North Korea will stop nuclear tests and launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles,” North Korea’s state news agency said over the weekend. Kim Jong Un said he will also close the country’s nuclear testing facility at Punggye-ri.

But this isn’t “denuclearization.” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared to acknowledge that reality when he offered this assessment of the announcement: “What is crucial here … is how this development is going to lead to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear arms, weapons of mass destruction and missiles,” he said. “And I will keep a close eye on that.”

Last month, South Korean officials said North Korea had signaled its willingness to negotiate about abandoning its nuclear weapons. “The North expressed its willingness to hold a heartfelt dialogue with the United States on the issues of denuclearization and normalizing relations with the United States,” the South Korean statement said.

Update: He’s still at it:

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The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again today—any amount.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

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