10 things you need to know today: April 22, 2018

White House reportedly skeptical of Kim's 'freeze' offer, Trump relitigates Comey memos on Twitter, and more

President Trump
(Image credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press)

1. White House reportedly skeptical of Kim's 'freeze' offer

While President Trump has in public enthusiastically praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's Saturday announcement that he would cease nuclear and missile testing and shutter a testing site, behind closed doors, the Trump administration is reportedly unsure of how to interpret Kim's offer. White House aides are skeptical of the freeze proposal, The Washington Post and The New York Times both reported Saturday evening. They worry Kim's concession will create an "illusion" of cooperation without making all the changes — including total denuclearization, which many experts consider unrealistic — the administration hopes to secure in upcoming Trump-Kim talks. President Trump claimed on Twitter Sunday Pyongyang has already "agreed to denuclearization." It has not.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.