Washington, DC - Editorial boards and commentators laud the President for putting America first during the summit in Hanoi and for showing that sometimes you just have to walk away.
NEW YORK POST EDITORIAL BOARD: In Hanoi, Trump Won by Walking Away
“’Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times,’ President Trump said as he cut short his Vietnam summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Good for the [President], and just what we expected in noting the other day that ‘his history suggests he’s always willing to walk away from a deal that’s not good enough. …we’d say [the summit] was a success, because it taught Kim that this president is no sucker.”
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD: Trump Walks on Kim
“President Trump was willing to walk away without the deal Mr. Kim was offering. It was the right decision. Based on the details that have emerged, Mr. Kim came to Hanoi with a familiar North Korean offer: He would dismantle all or parts of the Yongbyon nuclear complex in return for lifting economic sanctions.”
TOM BOSSERT ON ABC NEWS: Not So Fast, Chairman Kim: Hanoi Summit Disappoints, but Trump Shines
“Trump was strong, smart, even tempered and mature. He maintained credibility as the lead negotiator for the peace-loving world. He also maintained a cordial and mature relationship with Kim while firmly rejecting his attempt to distract from the strategic objective of denuclearization. No histrionics. No fanfare.”
CHRISTIAN WHITON ON FOX NEWS: Vietnam Summit was Trump’s Reykjavik – He’s Just Put North Korea’s Kim and China’s Xi on Notice
“President Trump just performed one of the most important features of tough negotiating: he demonstrated a willingness to walk away. In their second summit in Hanoi, the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un, offered to shutter one of his key nuclear facilities but demanded an end to sanctions in return. … Trump rightly said thanks but no thanks.”
BRETT VELICOVICH ON FOX NEWS: Trump Knows Exactly What He Wants from North Korea (and Should Not Be Underestimated)
“Contrary to the biased assumptions of his critics, President Trump knows exactly what he wants from North Korea – complete and verifiable denuclearization that can serve as a prelude to permanent peace. A bad nuclear deal that undermines U.S. security simply isn’t anything the president would ever accept.”
THOMAS CYNKIN IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Trump-Kim Summit: The Art of Walking Away
“[President Trump] correctly followed the maxim that a bad deal is worse than no deal. The deal breaker in Hanoi was Kim’s insistence that the United States drop a broad swath of sanctions, thereby administering the coup de grace to the ‘maximum pressure’ policy the Trump administration successfully pursued as a means to bring Kim to the negotiating table in the first place.”
THE HILL: Foreign Affairs Expert Praises Trump for Walking Away from North Korea Summit
“Foreign affairs expert Gordon Chang praised President Trump on Friday for walking away from the latest North Korea summit without making a deal, dismissing the proposals put forth by leader Kim Jong Un. ‘I mean the North Koreans were putting forth absurd proposals,’ Chang told Hill.TV’s Krystal Ball and Mattie Duppler on ‘Rising.’ ‘Whether you accept their version of their proposal or what President Trump said at the press conference, nonetheless President Trump should have walked from Hanoi and he did, and that’s really important because it says to the North Koreans that they’ve got to negotiate in good faith,’ he continued.”
