Last week, Donald Trump tweeted that North Korea no longer posed a nuclear threat, thanks to his brilliant summitry and superlative deal-making.

But less than two weeks after his high profile meeting with Pyongyang’s dictator Kim Jong Un, it appears that the president’s optimistic declaration might have been premature.

Trump’s administration issued an executive order late Friday declaring that North Korea still poses an “extraordinary threat” to the United States and extending a decade-old “national emergency” designation with regard to Pyongyang for another year.

“The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” the executive order read.


“For this reason, the national emergency … must continue in effect beyond June 26, 2018,” the president said in his statement.

The national emergency regarding North Korea dates back to the end of the George W. Bush administration, and was put in place in 2008.

The New York Times reported Saturday that prolonging the measure effectively means keeping in place Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy that he announced with great fanfare that he was abandoning ahead of the summit.

Trump’s executive order was more than a little surprising, coming just days after he tweeted that North Korea no longer represented a nuclear threat.

Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018

Trump and Kim Jong-un signed an agreement at their June 12 summit pledging to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” In exchange for agreeing to disarm, Pyongyang is to receive relief from crippling sanctions that have hampered its economic growth.


The U.S. administration also announced the suspension of joint military exercises planned for August with South Korea, maneuvers that were not only an irritant to Pyongyang, but to Beijing and Moscow as well.

Despite renewing the extraordinary threat designation for North Korea, the Pentagon late Friday announced that it is indefinitely suspending two additional training exercises with Seoul, Reuters reported.

One could be forgiven being somewhat confused about whether or not the administration poses a threat, given the administration’s mixed messages on the subject.

The president certainly has sent out a number of messages via Twitter heralding the success of his summit and insisting that the now-scutttled military exercises with South Korea were a waste of money.

Holding back the “war games” during the negotiations was my request because they are VERY EXPENSIVE and set a bad light during a good faith negotiation. Also, quite provocative. Can start up immediately if talks break down, which I hope will not happen! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2018

Funny how the Fake News, in a coordinated effort with each other, likes to say I gave sooo much to North Korea because I “met.” That’s because that’s all they have to disparage! We got so much for peace in the world, & more is being added in finals. Even got our hostages/remains! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 17, 2018

Meanwhile, although the United States has canceled military exercises with its longtime ally South Korea, there is still no sign that the North has made moves to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.


Think Progress’ Aaron Rupar reported that as recently as Thursday, Secretary of State Joe Pompeo expressed confidence that Kim would follow through on plans to disarm.

“He made a personal commitment,” Pompeo said at a cabinet meeting at the White House. “He has his reputation on the line in the same way that we do.”

At the same meeting, Pompeo’s boss also made confident-sounding noises about the likelihood that Pyongyang will make good on its promise.

“The document we signed, if people actually read it to the public, you’d see. Number one statement, we would immediately begin total denuclearization of North Korea,” Trump said.

That remains to be seen — especially since, as Think Progress’ Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani explained, there was never really a denuclearization accord of any substance.

In a statement cited by The Times, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Schumer, suggested that the president didn’t lay the groundwork for a real breakthrough in talks with Kim.

“We have to treat these negotiations far more seriously than just as a photo op,” Schumer said in a statement. “Saying the North Korea problem is solved doesn’t make it so.”