The Atlantic

Letter: Trump’s North Korea Statements Are an ‘Acknowledgement of Reality’

A reader weighs in on last week’s summit in Singapore.
Source: Tyrone Siu / Reuters

Trump Got Nearly Nothing From Kim Jong Un

The leaders’ meeting last week may have been the beginning of something big, Uri Friedman argued. But it started off small.


I found your article very well written, but I can’t agree with some of the conclusions and the basic premise of the article.

You wrote:

But Trump then proceeded to, rhetorically at least, make one concession after another to North Korea. He said that U.S. sanctions on North Korea would “come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor,” but then chipped away at that firm stance by adding that “I actually look forward to taking them off” …

This does not necessarily mean that our president is backing away from his firm stance. It could just as easily mean he

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