Opinion: Trump wants to rekindle his Kim Jong Un bromance, but North Korea has other suitors now
LA TimesTo say that President-elect Donald Trump has a lot of plans for his second term would be a gross understatement. Members of Trump’s inner circle told Reuters in late November that the next president was already talking about restarting the personal diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that had begun during his first term. During his first term, Trump was able to push for personal engagement with North Korea’s head of state despite resistance among his national security advisors. The Biden administration’s overtures to Pyongyang over the last four years have been repeatedly slapped down, apparently a consequence of what the North Korean leadership views as a lack of seriousness on the part of Washington as well as U.S. attempts to solidify a trilateral military relationship between the United States, South Korea and Japan. This shouldn’t be a surprise; the North Korean dictator staked significant capital on negotiating an agreement to lift U.S. sanctions and to normalize Pyongyang-U.S. relations.