Menendez: North Korea Summit Cancellation ‘A Failure of the Trump Administration’s Approach’

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Wolf,” Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) reacted to President Trump’s cancellation of the summit with North Korea by stating that North Korea’s actions aren’t surprising, but the failure of the summit is “a failure of the Trump administration’s approach, its impulsive actions.”

Menendez said, “Well, as I said at the hearing with Secretary Pompeo, the art of diplomacy is a lot harder than the art of the deal, and we shouldn’t be surprised at North Korea’s actions. We’ve been down this road through three different administrations. But what this is is a failure of the Trump administration’s approach, its impulsive actions.”

He continued, “The only way that you agree to a summit like this is with very significant preparation, where at significant, but lower levels, there [are] negotiations going on about all the key elements. And I went through what we want from North Korea with Secretary Pompeo today at the hearing. … And those questions were the questions that should have been negotiated to come to a decision as to whether or not an actual deal was reachable and what would be the give and take. That clearly wasn’t done, and I think what the president did is used the remarks by the North Korean official to ultimately cancel a summit that he saw [he] was not prepared for, and would not have ultimately realized the results he wanted.”

Menendez later added that North Korea “may have some complicity” in the failure of the summit.

(h/t Grabien)

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