Trump and Kim abruptly cut short summit after failing to reach nuclear deal
HANOI — President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly cut short their two-day summit Thursday after they failed to reach an agreement to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.
Talks collapsed unexpectedly amid a disagreement over economic sanctions, with the two leaders and their delegations departing their meeting site in Vietnam’s capital without sitting for a planned lunch or participating in a scheduled signing ceremony.
Kim said he was prepared in principle to denuclearize, and Trump said an agreement was “ready to sign.” But Trump said the main impediment to a deal was Kim’s requirement that the United States lift all economic sanctions on North Korea in exchange for the closure of only one North Korean nuclear facility, which still would have left Pyongyang with a large arsenal of missiles and warheads.
“We had some options, but at this time we decided not to do any of the options,” Trump said. He added, “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times.”
For Trump, the surprising turn of events amounted to a diplomatic failure. The president flew 20 hours to Vietnam with hopes of producing demonstrable progress toward North Korea’s denuclearization, building upon his first summit meeting with Kim last summer in Singapore.
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) has subpoenaed documents from President Trump’s inaugural committee, the latest of several requests from federal and state authorities probing how money was raised and spent for the January 2017 gala.
The subpoena, issued Tuesday, requests documents related to committee payments to the Trump Organization or Trump International Hotel, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. It states that Racine is seeking the documents under his civil authority to ensure that nonprofit groups in the District are not “wasteful, mismanaged and/or improperly provided private benefit.”
Racine’s subpoena was first reported by the New York Times.
The subpoena set a deadline of March 29 for the inaugural committee to respond, according to the law enforcement officials. If the committee does not meet that deadline, Racine’s office could file a lawsuit in pursuit of the documents.
Of course I would defer to Flatus on this issue, but I tend to be very relieved that SFB walked rather than got a weak deal and a photo op.
Back to Cohen. SFB’s so furking stupid he doesn’t apparently realize that Cohen did not say there was no collusion. He said he wasn’t aware of any, but he laid heavy groundwork for SFB knowing about the SFBJr meeting and for coordination with Felix Sater and prior knowledge of the Wikileaks disclosure. Jesus god, the man is a funking train wreck.
Ya know… whenever I heard a Republican Congress critter trashing Cohen in yesterday’s hearing, I kept thinking…. if you think Cohen is so bad, what does that say about trump’s judgement (or lack of) that he hired Cohen as his personal lawyer for 10 years.
BlueB… I’d love to know the answer especially to question #1… as we here on this blog know that trump isn’t smart enough to figure out that Kim was playing him.
jace, your welcome. couldn’t pass up forrest gump’s mama’s quote when I heard cohen testify about trump’s “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam” remark.
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), one of President Trump’s harshest critics in Congress, called it “inappropriate” that the hashtag #TrumpFail was trending after the president’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“The hashtag #TrumpFail is trending and I find it inappropriate,” Lieu tweeted. “People should not be hoping the President fails or taking pleasure in his failure on the global stage. Whether you like [Trump] or not, he represents America in foreign affairs.
On Wednesday, Michael Cohen, President Trump’s one-time personal lawyer and “fixer,” testified in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee about what he says are a variety of shady practices he participated in when working for the president. People around the country awaited riveting testimony, some going so far as to join “watch parties” in bars.
But like so many congressional hearings, the fireworks were quick to flame out. Even with the tantalizing opportunity to grill Mr. Cohen on the myriad ways his former boss most likely sought to evade the law and avoid his creditors, many members of the committee, from both parties, could not resist their usual grandstanding.
Consider the line of questioning from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. She asked Mr. Cohen a series of specific questions about how Mr. Trump had handled insurance claims and whether he had provided accurate information to various companies. “To your knowledge,” she asked, “did Donald Trump ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?” He had.
She asked whether Mr. Trump had tried to reduce his local taxes by undervaluing his assets. Mr. Cohen confirmed that the president had also done that. “You deflate the value of the asset and then you put in a request to the tax department for a deduction,” Mr. Cohen said, explaining the practice. These were the sort of questions, and answers, the committee was supposed to elicit. Somehow, only the newer members got the memo.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez continued, asking, “Do you think we need to review financial statements and tax returns in order to compare them?” She pressed Mr. Cohen for the names of others who would be able to corroborate the testimony or provide documents to support the charges. In response, Mr. Cohen listed the executives Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari — names that, thanks in part to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, we will probably hear more about in the coming months.
These questions were not random, but, rather, well thought out. Like a good prosecutor, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was establishing the factual basis for further committee investigation. She asked one question at a time, avoided long-winded speeches on why she was asking the question, and listened carefully to his answer, which gave her the basis for a follow-up inquiry. As a result, Mr. Cohen gave specific answers about Mr. Trump’s shady practices, along with a road map for how to find out more. Mr. Cohen began his testimony calling Mr. Trump a “con man and a cheat”; In just five minutes, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez actually helped him lay out the facts to substantiate those charges.
Unfortunately, too few of her colleagues followed suit. [continues]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, Israel’s attorney general recommends
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will make a final decision on whether to indict Netanyahu after the prime minister has a chance to present his defense at a hearing. Netanyahu vehemently denies the allegations.
Mandelblit said he believes there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution in three corruption cases.
The announcement came just weeks before Israel’s April 9 election, in which Netanyahu is running for a fifth term.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
I listened to the entire hearing from start to finish on MSNBC. I created a back-up recording from C-Span just-in-case. I think every American family should listen/watch as a group (5th graders and above and especially-precocious little kids as well).
Michael Cohen warned at the end of his House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday that if Trump loses in 2020, he may not concede the office peacefully. “My loyalty has cost me everything. Everything. My family’s happiness, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation and soon my freedom. I will not sit back and allow him to do the same to the country,” Cohen said. “Given my experience working for President Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power. This is why I agreed to appear before you today.” “I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made,” he added. His comments come at the end of a blockbuster hearing, in which Cohen surfaced a litany of new allegations against the president and his allies.
If trump refuses to cede power peacefully, we will have to trust that state governments, the House, Senate, SCOTUS, intelligence agencies and military will all do the right thing.
wapo:
Trump and Kim abruptly cut short summit after failing to reach nuclear deal
HANOI — President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un abruptly cut short their two-day summit Thursday after they failed to reach an agreement to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons.
Talks collapsed unexpectedly amid a disagreement over economic sanctions, with the two leaders and their delegations departing their meeting site in Vietnam’s capital without sitting for a planned lunch or participating in a scheduled signing ceremony.
Kim said he was prepared in principle to denuclearize, and Trump said an agreement was “ready to sign.” But Trump said the main impediment to a deal was Kim’s requirement that the United States lift all economic sanctions on North Korea in exchange for the closure of only one North Korean nuclear facility, which still would have left Pyongyang with a large arsenal of missiles and warheads.
“We had some options, but at this time we decided not to do any of the options,” Trump said. He added, “Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just one of those times.”
For Trump, the surprising turn of events amounted to a diplomatic failure. The president flew 20 hours to Vietnam with hopes of producing demonstrable progress toward North Korea’s denuclearization, building upon his first summit meeting with Kim last summer in Singapore.
[continues]
*
also in today’s wapo:
D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) has subpoenaed documents from President Trump’s inaugural committee, the latest of several requests from federal and state authorities probing how money was raised and spent for the January 2017 gala.
The subpoena, issued Tuesday, requests documents related to committee payments to the Trump Organization or Trump International Hotel, according to two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter. It states that Racine is seeking the documents under his civil authority to ensure that nonprofit groups in the District are not “wasteful, mismanaged and/or improperly provided private benefit.”
Racine’s subpoena was first reported by the New York Times.
The subpoena set a deadline of March 29 for the inaugural committee to respond, according to the law enforcement officials. If the committee does not meet that deadline, Racine’s office could file a lawsuit in pursuit of the documents.
[continues]
Of course I would defer to Flatus on this issue, but I tend to be very relieved that SFB walked rather than got a weak deal and a photo op.
Back to Cohen. SFB’s so furking stupid he doesn’t apparently realize that Cohen did not say there was no collusion. He said he wasn’t aware of any, but he laid heavy groundwork for SFB knowing about the SFBJr meeting and for coordination with Felix Sater and prior knowledge of the Wikileaks disclosure. Jesus god, the man is a funking train wreck.
Three questions:
1. Who convinced SFB to walk away,
2. Who did the tweets from VN,
3. It was a last-minute run, how much did SFB need to get the headlines again?
Patd,
Thank you.?
Ya know… whenever I heard a Republican Congress critter trashing Cohen in yesterday’s hearing, I kept thinking…. if you think Cohen is so bad, what does that say about trump’s judgement (or lack of) that he hired Cohen as his personal lawyer for 10 years.
BlueB… I’d love to know the answer especially to question #1… as we here on this blog know that trump isn’t smart enough to figure out that Kim was playing him.
Did Cohen do any real damage to Trump yesterday? So mad I had no time to watch or even read the summaries. Only reading our threads
craig, here’s seth meyers with a recap for you
Seth takes a closer look at President Trump’s ex-personal fixer Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony.
jace, your welcome. couldn’t pass up forrest gump’s mama’s quote when I heard cohen testify about trump’s “You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam” remark.
the hill:
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), one of President Trump’s harshest critics in Congress, called it “inappropriate” that the hashtag #TrumpFail was trending after the president’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“The hashtag #TrumpFail is trending and I find it inappropriate,” Lieu tweeted. “People should not be hoping the President fails or taking pleasure in his failure on the global stage. Whether you like [Trump] or not, he represents America in foreign affairs.
“We want America to succeed.”
[continues]
I suspect McConnell laid down the Law, “Mr President, your airplane is leaving in 24-hours with you or without you.”
and the congress critter award winner for best interrogator at cohen hearing goes to…. AOC according to
NYTimes:
On Wednesday, Michael Cohen, President Trump’s one-time personal lawyer and “fixer,” testified in front of the House Oversight and Reform Committee about what he says are a variety of shady practices he participated in when working for the president. People around the country awaited riveting testimony, some going so far as to join “watch parties” in bars.
But like so many congressional hearings, the fireworks were quick to flame out. Even with the tantalizing opportunity to grill Mr. Cohen on the myriad ways his former boss most likely sought to evade the law and avoid his creditors, many members of the committee, from both parties, could not resist their usual grandstanding.
Consider the line of questioning from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. She asked Mr. Cohen a series of specific questions about how Mr. Trump had handled insurance claims and whether he had provided accurate information to various companies. “To your knowledge,” she asked, “did Donald Trump ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?” He had.
She asked whether Mr. Trump had tried to reduce his local taxes by undervaluing his assets. Mr. Cohen confirmed that the president had also done that. “You deflate the value of the asset and then you put in a request to the tax department for a deduction,” Mr. Cohen said, explaining the practice. These were the sort of questions, and answers, the committee was supposed to elicit. Somehow, only the newer members got the memo.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez continued, asking, “Do you think we need to review financial statements and tax returns in order to compare them?” She pressed Mr. Cohen for the names of others who would be able to corroborate the testimony or provide documents to support the charges. In response, Mr. Cohen listed the executives Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari — names that, thanks in part to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, we will probably hear more about in the coming months.
These questions were not random, but, rather, well thought out. Like a good prosecutor, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was establishing the factual basis for further committee investigation. She asked one question at a time, avoided long-winded speeches on why she was asking the question, and listened carefully to his answer, which gave her the basis for a follow-up inquiry. As a result, Mr. Cohen gave specific answers about Mr. Trump’s shady practices, along with a road map for how to find out more. Mr. Cohen began his testimony calling Mr. Trump a “con man and a cheat”; In just five minutes, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez actually helped him lay out the facts to substantiate those charges.
Unfortunately, too few of her colleagues followed suit. [continues]
wapo:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be indicted for fraud, bribery and breach of trust, Israel’s attorney general recommends
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will make a final decision on whether to indict Netanyahu after the prime minister has a chance to present his defense at a hearing. Netanyahu vehemently denies the allegations.
Mandelblit said he believes there is sufficient evidence to proceed with the prosecution in three corruption cases.
The announcement came just weeks before Israel’s April 9 election, in which Netanyahu is running for a fifth term.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
I listened to the entire hearing from start to finish on MSNBC. I created a back-up recording from C-Span just-in-case. I think every American family should listen/watch as a group (5th graders and above and especially-precocious little kids as well).
the most chilling, but less reported, moment in the cohen testimony
daily beast:
Michael Cohen warned at the end of his House Oversight Committee hearing Wednesday that if Trump loses in 2020, he may not concede the office peacefully. “My loyalty has cost me everything. Everything. My family’s happiness, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation and soon my freedom. I will not sit back and allow him to do the same to the country,” Cohen said. “Given my experience working for President Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power. This is why I agreed to appear before you today.” “I pray the country doesn’t make the same mistakes that I have made,” he added. His comments come at the end of a blockbuster hearing, in which Cohen surfaced a litany of new allegations against the president and his allies.
repeated for emphasis:
“I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 that there will never be a peaceful transition of power.”
I hope that the Israeli courts dispose of netanyahu more quickly than we’re disposing of trump and his cult.
I can’t wait to see fakes news and bratbite call the Israeli AG and anti-Semite.
If trump refuses to cede power peacefully, we will have to trust that state governments, the House, Senate, SCOTUS, intelligence agencies and military will all do the right thing.
Bad week for music. Andre Previn & Michele LeGrand gone in one week
Mr Jace,
I’ve just dropped a topic in the Quick Draft Box of the Trail Mix Dashboard. I hope that it’s a winner.
KGC
Glad to hear you are not going down for the third time. Hope they clear your roads so you can avoid the sludge and mud.
Jamie, at least they had marvelous, enduring careers.