Trump's 'deals' are going to kill us all

Just what kind of negotiation does the president think he's pursuing with North Korea?

President Trump.
(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

A quarter-century ago, a certain New York real estate investor took an interest in negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union over nuclear weapons. Apparently he believed that if he got in a room with the Russians, he could end the Cold War with his awe-inspiring negotiating skills. As Bruce Blair reported last year, upon meeting one of the diplomats negotiating the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Donald Trump told the gentleman, Richard Burt, that he knew just how to cut a "terrific" deal with the Soviets. "Trump told Burt to arrive late to the next negotiating session, walk into the room where his fuming counterpart sits waiting impatiently, remain standing and looking down at him, stick his finger into his chest, and say 'F--k you!'"

On Tuesday, President Trump brought that unique nuclear negotiating acumen to the United Nations for his first address to the General Assembly. It wasn't much better.

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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a senior writer with The American Prospect magazine and a blogger for The Washington Post. His writing has appeared in dozens of newspapers, magazines, and web sites, and he is the author or co-author of four books on media and politics.