Radio Recap: U.S. Walks Away from Negotiations with North Korea

“Sometimes you have to walk.” Those were the words of our President, and that is what he chose to do, for now.

On today’s show, we discussed the end of the nuclear summit in Vietnam between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un which came to a close without a deal.

It seems that while the President was optimistic and made promises in exchange for cooperation, Chairman Kim overplayed his hand, demanding lifting of sanctions on North Korea in exchange for little to nothing in return.

Some critics expected President Trump to cave to North Korea, stating he needed a victory. The President did the opposite. There were demands that U.S. could not compromise on. North Korea needed to demonstrate a full commitment to denuclearization.

Rather than give in, President Trump, the author of The Art of the Deal, made the decision to simply walk away when it became apparent the talks had reached an impasse.

No deal is better than a bad deal.

Despite the end of this second summit, the President called the meetings productive and still appeared optimistic about the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea. The summit ended in a friendly, non-combative exchange between the two leaders, hopeful to continue the talks again at a later date.

Despite not reaching a deal, this summit is a decided improvement upon the efforts and outcomes of past administrations in dealing with North Korea.

As one insightful caller put it: “a successful negotiation is a series of no’s, followed by one yes.”

We also updated you on our Supreme Court case defending the Bladensburg Peace Cross in Maryland. As we’ve told you, the memorial was erected to honor soldiers who gave their lives in World War I. Atheists sued to have the cross removed stating it violates the First Amendment’s prohibition against governmental establishment of religion. We filed an amicus brief arguing it does not violate the First Amendment and should be allowed to stand in honor of our fallen heroes.

Finally, we discussed our ongoing efforts to free Christian pastor – and U.S. permanent resident – John Cao. Our legal and government affairs team is on Capitol Hill this week with Pastor Cao’s family in keep meetings with both Members of Congress and Administration officials. As we ramp up our efforts for Pastor Cao’s freedom, take action with us by signing our petition below

You can listen to the entire episode here.