Trump leaves North Korea talks humbled and empty handed

Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump failed to make a deal with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Thursday as the Hanoi summit in Vietnam came to a close, proving that Trump is not a dealmaker.

Prior to leaving for the summit, Trump prematurely declared it would be a success on Twitter.

But no progress was actually made, and denuclearization certainly was not agreed upon as Kim Jong Un expected Trump to drop all sanctions first, which is sure to be a sticking point that won’t go away any time soon.

According to Reuters:

Trump said two days of talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi had made good progress in building relations and on the key issue of denuclearization, but it was important not to rush into a bad deal.

“It was all about the sanctions,” Trump said at a news conference after the talks were cut short. “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that.”

Trump and Kim cut short their talks, skipping a planned working lunch at the French-colonial-era Metropole hotel after a morning of meetings.

“Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,” Trump said, adding “it was a friendly walk”.

Miraculously, Trump avoided being duped this time around as Kim Jong Un feigned shock that the United States knows about several hidden missile sites. Had Trump agreed to drop sanctions first, Jong Un could have merely pretended to begin denuclearization only to pull the rug out from under Trump’s bone spurs once enough economic relief had flowed into North Korea.

Of course, Trump insists that progress was made and that the talks went smoothly, but that’s not true since the White House had been so confident about a deal being made that they scheduled a “joint agreement signing ceremony.” Needless to say, that ceremony never took place and Trump is now flying home with his tail tucked between his legs.

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