A Trump North Korea deal

There is something almost nostalgic about the prospect of another Trump-Kim summit. The handshake, the photo ops, the historic first steps across the DMZ—these were cinematic moments that captured the world's imagination. But nostalgia is not a foreign policy strategy, and the hard truth is that the last round of engagement yielded more spectacle than substance. North Korea continued testing missiles, continued enriching uranium, and never provided a credible, verifiable inventory of its nuclear assets. The question now is whether a second attempt can learn from those failures or is destined to repeat them. The second stated goal—prying North Korea away from Russia's war effort—adds a new and urgent dimension. Reports of North Korean artillery shells and even troops supporting Moscow's invasion have alarmed both Washington and Seoul. If Trump can leverage personal diplomacy to disrupt that axis, it would be a genuine strategic win. But here's the rub: Kim has been extracting maximum concessions from Putin in exchange for that support—food, fuel, advanced military technology, and diplomatic cover. What can Washington offer that would outbid Moscow's desperate generosity? That's the uncomfortable math at the heart of this initiative. Supporters argue that only Trump has the audacity and personal rapport with Kim to break the stalemate. They point to the 2018 Singapore summit as proof that dialogue is possible, and they contend that the Biden administration's policy of "strategic patience" has allowed North Korea's arsenal to grow unchecked. Detractors counter that Trump's summits legitimized a brutal dictator without securing real concessions, and that any deal he negotiates will be heavy on optics and light on verification. Both sides have legitimate points, and neither has a monopoly on wisdom here. What makes this story genuinely important is not whether you support or oppose the approach—it's the broader lesson about how American foreign policy lurches between engagement and isolation with every change of administration. A durable North Korea policy should not depend on who occupies the Oval Office. Yet here we are again, watching the pendulum swing, hoping this time the outcome differs from the last. The burden of proof falls on the negotiators to demonstrate that this round is built on more than hope and handshakes. Source: https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/6053590-trump-kim-jong-un-negotiations/