Foreign Affairs

Trump Says He’s Open To Chatting With Kim Jong Un On The Phone

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President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would “absolutely” talk to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on the phone.

Speaking at the presidential retreat Camp David, Trump said he is willing to speak with Kim, but not without preconditions. “Absolutely, I would do that,” he said, further remarking, “I have no problem with that at all.”

The North Korean leader expressed a desire to engage South Korea in dialogue in his New Year’s address. The North and South then made contact via a dormant hotline for the first time in two years just two days later. The two sides will meet face-to-face for talks on Tuesday at the Panmunjom truce village to sort out North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

While experts and certain officials have expressed skepticism and doubt, Trump has thrown his support to the talks, asserting that this is a “good thing.”

The president believes that he is responsible for this development in inter-Korean relations, claiming that his constant strength in the face of North Korean aggression has brought Kim to the table for talks.

With all of the failed “experts” weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total “might” against the North. Fools, but talks are a good thing!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2018

Trump repeated this assertion Saturday. “Look, right now they’re talking Olympics,” he said, “It’s a start, it’s big start. If I weren’t involved they wouldn’t be talking at all right now.” Kim “knows I‘m not messing around. I‘m not messing around. Not even a little bit, not even one percent. He understands that,” Trump added, further explaining, “If something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity, that would be a great thing for the world.”

Over the past year, Trump has bounced back and forth on the value of talks, at one point tweeting that negotiations with ‘Rocket Man, are a waste of time.

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