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White House rules out talks with North Korea
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From left: National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos, US Vice President Mike Pence, US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, take their seats with others for a dinner with Latin American and US leaders at the Palace Hotel during the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 18, 2017 in New York City. (Agence France -Presse/Brendan Smialowski)
T
he White House ruled out talks with North Korea over its nuclear arsenal just days after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US was talking to North Korea “directly, through our own channels.”
“Now is not the time to talk,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Monday. She added that the US was interested solely in talks over freeing three US citizens held by the reclusive regime.
That was in contrast to Tillerson’s remarks over the weekend in Beijing, where he told reporters, “We can talk to them, we do talk to them directly” and that the US has “a couple, three channels open to Pyongyang.”
The White House statements were the latest sign that President Donald Trump and his top diplomat have different views on the best way to address North Korea’s accelerating nuclear and ballistic missile programs. While Tillerson was heading back to the US from China on Sunday, Trump said on Twitter that he’d told his “wonderful” secretary of state that “he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” a reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” Trump added.
...Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
During his campaign for president, Trump said he could sit down to negotiate with Kim over a hamburger. But he seems to have abandoned that line. The president this weekend referred to diplomatic efforts by former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, saying in a Twitter posting that “being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.” Kim, 33, took over the leadership of North Korea in 2011 after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il.
Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
Kim responded to Trump’s “rocket man” taunts in North Korea’s state media by calling the US leader a “dotard” and promising the “highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.” His foreign minister said the regime’s options included testing a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.
