'Why can't we just do it?': Trump nearly upended summit with abrupt changes

[demmiblue]

Some of the most intense drama surrounding President Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un came not across the negotiating table, but in the days and hours leading up to Tuesday’s historic meeting — a behind-the-scenes flurry of commotion prompted by Trump himself.

After arriving in Singapore on Sunday, an antsy and bored Trump urged his aides to demand that the meeting with Kim be pushed up by a day — to Monday — and had to be talked out of altering the long-planned and carefully negotiated summit date on the fly, according to two people familiar with preparations for the event.

“We’re here now,” the president said, according to the people. “Why can’t we just do it?”

Trump’s impatience, coupled with a tense staff-level meeting between the two sides on Sunday, left some aides fearful that the entire summit might be in peril.

Ultimately, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders persuaded Trump to stick with the original plan, arguing that the president and his team could use the time to prepare, people familiar with the talks said. They also warned him that he might sacrifice wall-to-wall television coverage of his summit if he abruptly moved the long-planned date to Monday in Singapore, which would be Sunday night in the United States.

...

At one point, after watching North Korean television, which is entirely state-run, the president talked about how positive the female North Korean news anchor was toward Kim, according to two people familiar with his remarks. He joked that even the administration-friendly Fox News was not as lavish in its praise as the state TV anchor, one of the people added, and that maybe she should get a job on U.S. television, instead.

At another point, Trump marveled at how “tough” the North Korean guards seemed, noting that they were always stone-faced and refused to shake hands, the two people said. One recalled the president joking that they could probably take on White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, a retired four-star Marine general. A second did not remember the president specifically mentioning Kelly, but just noting more generally that Kim’s guards seemed formidable.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/why-cant-we-just-do-it-trump-nearly-upends-summit-with-abrupt-changes/2018/06/14/36e9cb2e-6fe6-11e8-bd50-b80389a4e569_story.html?tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.bb74532051c9&noredirect=on

[Achilleaze]

1. republican misleader Dirty Donny* obviously had a Man Crush on the NK Guard Thugs

gushing sloppily all over the place, and then - Holy Shit - republican family-values role model Dirty Donny saluted America's enemies?

* aka republican Draft-Dodger-in-Chief

[riversedge]

2. I forget her name--that lady in pink on NK TV

Trump is so stupid.


At one point, after watching North Korean television, which is entirely state-run, the president talked about how positive the female North Korean news anchor was toward Kim, according to two people familiar with his remarks. He joked that even the administration-friendly Fox News was not as lavish in its praise as the state TV anchor, one of the people added, and that maybe she should get a job on U.S. television, instead.

[global1]

3. I Can't Imagine What It's Like Having To Deal With A .....

Trump tantrum. He's bad enough when he puts on his civil behaving act. Just think trying to talk to a whiny, off the wall Trump that wants things his way and his way only.