The Trump Negotiation Agenda
Several reporters are taking Trump’s current actions and comments as a lot of craziness. But one can discern a clever, coordinated plan behind them that can lead to negotiations with North Korea. Negotiations would be the best way to get a settlement, and to take us down from these heights of brinksmanship.
One of these statements is Trump’s opinion that President Andrew Jackson, Trump’s hero, could have negotiated a compromise and avoided the destructive Civil War. This was not a historical statement, as people are taking it. It is an analogy to the present threatening “civil war” between North and South Korea. Trump was saying that even this conflict between our Northern and Southern states, which had been struggling from the beginning of our Union over slavery, could have been negotiated between strong leaders.
Then there are Trump’s sympathetic, understanding words toward Kim Jung Un, which are meant to show that we would not meet him with pre-hostility. One was that he understood that Kim Jung Un must have had a tough time taking over at 27 (sort of like Trump find out how tough governing is). Another was understanding that Kim had to compete with his uncle for power (who he killed). No condemnation was mentioned for killing his half brother in an airport.
A third statement was that Trump said that he “would be honored” to meet with the Supreme Leader, if it was allowed. The again showed that the meeting would be with respect, and not condemnation. It also has a threatening side — that Trump is telegraphing that Trump considers the situation so dire, and might be preparing for such a catastrophic conflict, that he is willing to bear the slings and arrows of the press in order to get a negotiated settlement. Trump’s saying if it is allowed, probably doesn’t refer to our one-man State department, but to whether the North Korean power structure would allow Kim himself to meet with Trump. It sounds hard to find a mutually safe and trustworthy meeting place, other than China.
Even the unadvised invite of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to the White House had dual messages to the North Korean leader and regime. It showed that Trump is willing to overlook Duterte’s murdering of 7,000 drug users and dealers to regain the Philippines participation in the Pacific alliance, partly against North Korea. On the other had, it signals that Trump is willing to overlook Kim Jung Un’s human rights abuses of locking up hundreds of thousands of dissenters.
Trump is a super salesman, loves flattering his marks, claims he is a shrewd negotiator and deal maker, and now may have the advice of the State Department, National Security Agency, and the Military. Since he has a similar desire for worship and praise as Kim Jung Un, he may understand him better than the rest of us.
Anyway, that is one possible matrix of the recent unusual Trump actions and statements. Let’s see how it plays out.
