Michael Candelori/ZUMA
Back in Washington following the Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, President Donald Trump on Wednesday blasted American media as “fools” and the country’s “biggest threat.” The president also accused networks of trying to undercut the agreement that came out of the high-stakes meeting.
The tweet comes amid mounting confusion over what exactly the Singapore summit did, or did not, achieve. Trump, unsurprisingly, has touted the meeting as an unequivocal victory—he hailed the meeting as “truly amazing” and claimed the world would be “very impressed” with its denuclearization plan. But foreign policy experts and Democratic lawmakers have criticized the joint document signed by both leaders as exceedingly vague and lacking in firm commitments, timetables, and precise definitions of what denuclearization will look like. Even Republicans have called for caution, expressing uncertainty over what Trump accomplished by meeting with one of the world’s most notorious dictators.
.@realDonaldTrump claim there is no longer a NK nuclear threat patently false. The summit changed nothing. Worse yet, overselling the summit makes it harder to keep sanctions in place, further reducing pressure on NK to reduce (much less give up) its nuclear weapons and missiles
— Richard N. Haass (@RichardHaass) June 13, 2018
The president’s press conference shortly after the summit, in which he downplayed Kim’s devastating human rights record and discussed the real estate potential in North Korea, only added to the confusion.
Many contrasted Trump’s attack on the press Wednesday morning with his effusive praise for Kim in recent days. “Smart,” “loves his people,” and “very talented” are just a few of the compliments Trump has lavished on the North Korean leader since the meeting concluded. About his own citizens, the president wrote this:
So funny to watch the Fake News, especially NBC and CNN. They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have “begged” for this deal-looked like war would break out. Our Country’s biggest enemy is the Fake News so easily promulgated by fools!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
