Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Happening Now,” House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said the Trump administration was “standing firm that we aren’t going to make concessions just to get to the negotiating table.”
When asked about North Korea canceling talks with South Korea, McCaul said, “This is a tactic of North Korea over the last three presidencies, North Korea has tried to test us. Try to bring us into negotiations and have concessions before we meet at the table. John Bolton and Pompeo and the president are standing firm that we aren’t going to make concessions just to get to the negotiating table.”
He continued, “I think that’s been the fatal flaw that has happened over the last previous three administrations, where the North Koreans have played us and continued their nuclear weapons program.”
He added, “I think the administration is playing this out perfectly by putting on maximum pressure through sanctions. And China, they have been very helpful in this respect. China does not want North Korea to pull out of these negotiations and these talks. I think leveraging China, sanctions, not giving in to—I think Kim Jong-Un is just testing President Moon and South Korea to see if they concede on these routine military exercises. I would advise and caution not to give in to their concessions before you even get to the negotiating table. You want to negotiate out of strength, not out of weakness.”
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