June 12, 2018

Quote of the Day: Trump Says North Korea De-Nuking Will “Start Now”

Terence Tan/MCI via ZUMA

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From Donald Trump, on Kim Jong Un’s plans for his nuclear arsenal:

I mean he’s de-nuking the who-o-o-le place, and he’s going to start very quickly, I think he’s going to start now.

I feel like I’m in some kind of parallel dimension or something. Sure, there’s plenty of skepticism about what Kim is really going to do, but there’s also a lot of folks who are suggesting this is a “good first step,” or we’re “no longer on the brink of war,” or “maybe Trump really does have a new relationship with Kim.”

Have I lost it completely? Where is this stuff coming from? I’ll grant you that this entire process was driven by Kim, and there’s no telling for sure what he’s up to. It’s possible that he really does want to turn over a new leaf. Everything is possible, I suppose. But after reading the joint communique, which was as devoid of substance as a bit of cotton candy, does anyone seriously believe this?

I don’t. But once again we’re stuck in the weird netherworld of “maybe Trump has a bit of a point” after we discover some tiny kernel of semi-truth inside his interminable barrage of nonsense and babble. Why? The man lies about everything. His statements have no special relationship to reality at all. We know this. Everyone knows this. Why do we keep hoping that maybe this time is different?

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