‘It is difficult to determine what of concrete nature has occurred,’ says Bob Corker, chair of Senate foreign relations committee

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old



Lawmakers in Washington were skeptical of Donald Trump’s confidence in striking a deal with a dictator after the president’s historic Singapore meeting with Kim Jong-un.



Republicans roundly applauded the summit between the US and North Korean leaders as a step toward peace in Asia. However, a handful of the GOP’s foreign policy leaders on Capitol Hill warned that North Korea has failed to curb its nuclear ambitions despite similar commitments in the past.

“While I am glad the president and Kim Jong-un were able to meet,” said Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, “it is difficult to determine what of concrete nature has occurred.”



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At the conclusion of the summit in Singapore, Trump and Kim signed what the US president touted as “very comprehensive” agreement that would “take care of a very big and very dangerous problem for the world”.



The document reaffirms North Korea’s “firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula” but it fails to provide a timetable or verification measures outlining the steps the nation would take to achieve denuclearization.



“As negotiations now advance, there is only one acceptable final outcome: complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization,” the House speaker, Paul Ryan, said in a statement. “We must always be clear that we are dealing with a brutal regime with a long history of deceit.



“Only time will tell if North Korea is serious this time, and in the meantime we must continue to apply maximum economic pressure,” he added. “The road ahead is a long one, but today there is hope that the president has put us on a path to lasting peace in the Korean peninsula.”



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The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, similarly commended Trump for taking “an historic first step” toward negotiations with Pyongyang. But he, too, suggested the next round of negotiations “will test whether we can get to a verifiable deal” in remarks on the Senate floor.



“If North Korea does not prove willing to follow through, we and our allies must be prepared to restore the policy of maximum pressure,” McConnell said.



Trump called Republican senators from Air Force One during their weekly lunch, on his way home to Washington.

Afterwards, the Texas Republican senator John Cornyn told reporters that the “lesson” of the Iran deal is that cutting Congress out of the equation makes any deal vulnerable to a new administration.



“I do think it’s important that Congress give it the Good Housekeeping seal of approval because I think that would ensure longevity,” Cornyn said.



Meanwhile, Republicans also expressed concern over Trump’s unexpected announcement that the US would suspend joint military exercises with South Korea in return for North Korea’s commitment to denuclearize.



In sharp contrast, Democrats condemned what they said was a lack of preparation on the part of the Trump administration and the president’s perceived focus on image-making over substance.



“A diplomatic success would be the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, nothing less,” Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said on the Senate floor. “A nuclear North Korea with ICBMs probably presents a greater danger to the United States, and the safety and wellbeing of our country, than any other in the world.



“So, it’s imperative that we actually get action here – not just photo ops.”



Chris Coons, a Democratic senator from Delaware who sits on the foreign relations committee, said Trump had granted Kim legitimacy on the world stage without extracting any tangible concessions on human rights or denuclearization.



“For this agreement with North Korea to mean anything, for it to be anything more than a reality TV handshake summit, there’s going to need to be a lot of hard work in the months ahead,” Coons said on MSNBC, adding: “I’m concerned that the Trump administration isn’t prepared to do that hard work.”



Several lawmakers expressed lingering concerns over Trump’s attacks on Canada, one of America’s longstanding allies, over international trade.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Senator Chuck Schumer: ‘It is imperative that we actually get action here – just photo ops.’ Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

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After departing the G7 summit over the weekend, the president derided the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, as “very dishonest and weak” amid ongoing disagreements between the two leaders over Trump’s decision to levy tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.



Trump received a wary reception at the G7 summit, prompting some lawmakers to question the long-term impact on America’s global influence.



“President Trump brutally ruptured relations with America’s closest allies,” said Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat on the foreign relations committee, while noting it was the G7 allies who joined the US in counter-terrorism operations and in the fight for democracy and human rights.



“President Trump gave them all the middle finger at the G7 summit and, increasingly, he’s making it clear that if you have a history of friendship and alliance with the United States, you’re going to pay a price.



“This disastrous treatment of our allies makes the syrupy photo op he just gave the brutal dictator Kim Jong-un so dangerous,” Murphy added. “Trump’s generous treatment of Kim, coming on the heels of his public rejection of our allies, sends a chilling message to those who are thinking about signing up for an alliance with the United States in the future.”



Senator Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, was slightly less caustic than his Democratic colleagues, calling the meeting a “positive step in de-escalating tensions” and “moving toward a more peaceful future”.



But he warned: “Congress has an important role to play in making sure this is a meaningful and serious process and not just a series of photo ops.”

