Bipartisanship is not dead. But it’s surprising to see these days. Former President Jimmy Carter has offered to go to North Korea to help denuclearization efforts. The announcement was surprising because Carter is 94 years old, and a Democrat. The thought of having a Democrat in a position to make progress must be keeping Donald Trump awake nights—if he slept.
Politico notes that Carter has experience.
In 1994, Carter became the first U.S. president ever to visit North Korea when he met with Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un. Together, the two developed a bilateral, “step-by-step plan to get to the point of peace and work toward denuclearization,’’ [Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)] said. . .
With Carter’s blessing, Khanna said, he will now work to revive the 12-point strategy for denuclearization that Carter drew up with Kim Il Sung, “amend it’’ and aim to release a new joint framework that he hopes could assist the administration. . .
[One] potential hurdle is Trump national security adviser John Bolton, who had a key role in squelching the earlier denuclearization agreement. . . during the George W. Bush administration. . .“The fact that Carter is willing to engage Kim Jong Un is a good thing,’’ [Khanna] said, adding that the former president’s involvement could be a “win-win” for Trump. The president could get a major foreign policy win, while gaining rare support from Capitol Hill Democrats in the process, he insisted.
Carter also went to North Korea to achieve the release of an American in 2010. The BBC notes that “Aijalon Mahli Gomes was sentenced in April to eight years for walking illegally into North Korea from China, on a one-man peace mission.” That effort was successful.
UPI reports reports that North Korea’s official newspaper is blaming Trump for the failure of the recent summit in Vietnam.
An article published on page six of Workers’ Party paper Rodong Sinmun stated the world was holding the United States responsible for the end of the bilateral summit without an agreement.
“Those inside and outside North Korea who couldn’t hope enough for good results at the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi are unanimously holding the United States responsible for the end of the summit without an agreement, while being unable to hide their regrets,” the Rodong stated on Friday.
Traditionally, Democrats and Republicans work together regarding foreign policy. Breitbart notes that Democrats—including Khanna and Carter—encouraged the Trump-Kim summit.
Led by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), a top voice in the Democrat Party pushing for an end to endless wars around the globe, a group of 18 Democrats have signed onto a resolution in the House that would formally end the Korean War in its 68th year. Technically, the war never ended–and U.S. troops have remained deployed along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea–since open conflict stopped decades ago.
The resolution has the backing of 18 House Democrats, including a number of regular harsh critics of President Trump like freshman Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and the backing of former President Jimmy Carter. . .
If it was not clear from those statements that Carter and Khanna issued in the press release that these Democrats are supporting Trump as he goes into these negotiations with Kim in Hanoi, the Huffington Post has its own piece with quotes from some of them spelling it out.
One reason Trump might not want Carter to go to North Korea is that Trump doesn’t want to share any glory if there is progress. Always competing with the memory of Barack Obama, Trump has been campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize for himself.
Japanese politicians are reacting in disbelief following claims from U.S. President Donald Trump that Japan’s prime minister requested Trump be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. . .
The Japanese public may have been surprised by the reports, owing to growing wariness about the United States and Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy.
A recent Pew research poll shows 66 percent of Japanese surveyed said “U.S. power and influence” is a “rising concern.”. . .
Japanese media have also reported Abe may have made the recommendation following an “informal request” by phone from Trump to support his candidacy.
Donate Now to Support Election Central
- Help defend independent journalism
- Directly support this website and our efforts