TEL AVIV — In an article published by major U.S. newspapers, the Associated Press last Sunday claimed Donald Trump was inaccurate when he tweeted that day that North Korea had agreed to “denuclearization” ahead of a future summit between himself and Kim Jong Un.
Today, Trump’s tweet was proven to be true when the North Korean leader and South Korean President Moon Jae-in both signed a joint statement that specifically agreed to “complete denuclearization.”
“The South and the North confirmed their joint goal of realizing a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear weapons through complete denuclearization,” reads the statement.
The statement was vague and did not offer specifics on “complete denuclearization”, but the declaration nonetheless represents the shifting of the tectonic plates on the Peninsula after nearly six decades of war.
And the specific phraseology proves Trump’s tweet below about “denuclearization” to be accurate.
Failing to recognize that Trump may have been tweeting about commitments not yet released to the public, the Associated Press last Sunday released a widely-published article charging Trump’s “denuclearization” claim was untrue. The piece, datelined in West Palm Beach, where Trump was staying at the time, was authored by Jill Colvin.
The New York Times picked up the AP story, titling the piece, “Trump Says North Korea Agreed to Denuclearize. It Hasn’t.”
“Trump says North Korea agreed to denuclearize. It hasn’t,” was also the title of the Chicago Tribune version of the piece.
ABCNew.com used the same title.
Time picked up the wire under the slightly modified title, “President Trump Says North Korea Agreed to Denuclearize. It Hasn’t.”
The AP article, which was disproven on today, claimed:
President Donald Trump on Sunday claimed North Korea has agreed to “denuclearization” before his potential meeting with Kim Jong Un. But that’s not the case.
North Korea said Friday it would suspend nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches ahead of summits with the U.S. and South Korea. Kim also said a nuclear test site would be closed and “dismantled” now that the country has learned how to make nuclear weapons and mount warheads on ballistic rockets.
But the North has stopped short of saying it has any intention of abandoning its nuclear arsenal, with Kim making clear that nukes remain a “treasured sword.”
Besides the AP, PolitiFact used general headlines on Sunday to pronounce of Trump’s now provably accurate “denuclearization” tweet: “We rate this claim False.”
Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.