On Tuesday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson extended an olive branch — or at least, an olive twig — to North Korea, saying the U.S. was willing to have talks with Pyongyang without preconditions.
Predictably, Tillerson's optimism was undercut just a day later by the White House, in keeping with a year-long pattern of President Trump disregarding statements made by his secretary of state.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Schumer: Democrats will help pass spending billSpeed Read The Democrats end the threat of government shutdown
-
Trump pulls nomination of anti-vax CDC pickSpeed Read Former Florida congressmen Dr. Dave Weldon was nominated to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Judges tell Trump to rehire fired federal workersSpeed Read Trump and Elon Musk's DOGE team face a big setback in their efforts to shrink the federal workforce
-
Trump trade war heats up as Canada, EU retaliateSpeed Read The president imposes 25% steel and aluminum tariffs in an effort to revive US manufacturing, though it may drive up prices for Americans instead
-
Trump hawks Teslas, slashes more federal jobsSpeed Read The Education Department cut its workforce in half ahead of an expected Trump order to shutter the agency
-
Ukraine agrees to ceasefire, ending US aid freezeSpeed Read Kyiv made peace with the Trump administration by agreeing to an immediate ceasefire in its war against Russian invaders
-
ICE arrests Palestinian advocate with green cardSpeed Read Recent Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil has had his visa revoked, despite his status as a permanent resident
-
Trump doesn't rule out recession as tariffs biteSpeed Read In an interview for Fox News, Trump acknowledges the economic turbulence caused by his tariffs but claims his policies will be worth it in the long run
