Trump "almost singularly focused on the pageantry of the summit"

[Miles Archer]

Going into the North Korea meeting, senior administration officials say, the president has been almost singularly focused on the pageantry of the summit —including the suspenseful roll-out of details. He has not been deeply engaged in briefing materials on North Korea’s nuclear program, said three people with knowledge of the White House efforts. They were not authorized to speak publicly.

Scott Snyder, director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy at the Council of Foreign Relations, said there’s a risk that “the ceremony and the historic nature of the meeting be allowed to overshadow the deliverables.”

Driven by gut instinct, Trump rarely dives deep as he prepares to meet with foreign counterparts. For the North Korea meeting, insiders say, he is motivated by the idea of scoring a historic deal and is tickled by suggestions he could win a Nobel Peace Prize — especially since Barack Obama won the honor early in his presidency. Trump has maintained publicly that his goal is to see the Korean Peninsula denuclearized, and the North has agreed to put its nuclear program on the negotiating table as a condition for the talks. But the two sides are still miles apart on defining what might be mutually acceptable.

Trump will huddle Tuesday at the White House with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to prepare for the June 12 summit. It was Moon’s government that delivered the initial invitation from Kim for a meeting, and South Korea has been pushing the U.S. toward a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis.

https://apnews.com/f2e5aa3856b44b4b823064834dfb819d

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Style over substance, but still screw up the style.

[Freethinker65]

2. The BEST photo op summit ever!!!

[DetlefK]

7. The only outcome of this summit will be the photo-op.

Kim gets a photo showing that he's equal to the President to the United States.

Trump gets to brag about an achievement nobody on the whole planet, except his hardcore-base, will recognize for real.

[Ohiogal]

3. That's the only reason he wanted to be president

All the attention and fawning. Obvious to any of us with more than two brain cells.

[sdfernando]

9. Exactly!

Didn't he basically offer the actual responsibilities of the President to someone he wanted as VP...forget who, but basically said that if you are my VP you will be in charge of all foreign and domestic policy. WTF???

[C_U_L8R]

4. Oversized empty suit

with a clown tie

[spanone]

5. he's a teevee guy, nothing more.

[TBA]

6. Pagentry, Rallies these things are

Trump's drugs. It is an addiction.

[dalton99a]

8. Potemkin village for a con man

[CanonRay]

10. All hat and no cattle

[Orsino]

11. And barely focused on that. n/t