In 2002, George W. Bush declared Iran, Iraq, and North Korea the "Axis of Evil." He then invaded Iraq, replacing its government. President Obama negotiated a nuclear deal with Iran. And on Tuesday, Donald Trump told Reuters that, if elected, he would hold direct talks with the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Un over its nuclear arms program. "I would speak to him, I would have no problem speaking to him," Trump said. He added that he would "absolutely" try to talk some sense into Kim, and also "put a lot of pressure on China because economically we have tremendous power over China ... China can solve that problem with one meeting or one phone call."
Direct talks with North Korea's leader would be a shift of U.S. policy, and Hillary Clinton's foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan saw some irony in Trump's proposal, given his forecast a day earlier that he wouldn't "have a very good relationship" with British Prime Minister David Cameron. "Let me get this straight: Donald Trump insults the leader of our closest ally, then turns around and says he'd love to talk to Kim Jong Un?" Sullivan said in a statement. Trump "seems to have a bizarre fascination with foreign strongmen like Putin and Kim." (Trump told Reuters he's "sure I'll have a good relationship" with Cameron.)
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