NYT’s Kristof: Trump’s Jong Un Meeting a ‘Dangerous Gamble, ‘Bad Idea,’ a ‘Gift’ to N. Korea

RUSH EXCERPT:

KRISTOF: "It’s extraordinary to go from threatening to comparing nuclear buttons to then promising a summit with Kim Jong-un. And I think frankly it’s a dangerous gamble and a bad idea. In some ways I can’t believe I’m saying that because for years I’ve been arguing that we need to have direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea. But direct talks are one thing, and we need to have those negotiations. But any summit should be carefully preceded by — by going through what the rules are. And this is essentially a gift to North Korea. North Korea craves the recognition. It wants to be seen with its leader standing side by side with an American president. And it’s fine to have that as the outcome of a long process where we get what we want, but to give that away without getting anything back at the beginning I think is a mistake. I guess I also worry that President Trump, as we’ve seen in negotiations, will periodically assert something and if that’s in the context of a discussion about budgets or gun policy, then his staff can walk it back later and said well, he didn’t quite mean that. In international diplomacy working out a deal with Kim Jong-un, that may be harder to walk back."