Trump's advisers insist there's a strategy behind his Kim Jong Un meeting

Trump is going to meet with North Korea's leader
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images)

On Sunday, CIA Director Mike Pompeo and other advisers to President Trump "argued that his surprise decision to agree to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was less impulsive than it appeared to U.S. allies and members of Congress," The Wall Street Journal reports, and suggested it "had been made in line with a broader strategy of combating the North Korean nuclear threat." On Friday, the Journal reported that Trump "interrupted a trio of South Korean officials" to agree to the meeting:

"Okay, okay," Mr. Trump said, cutting short the discussion. "Tell them I'll do it." The South Korean officials looked at each other as if in disbelief, according to a White House official with knowledge of the meeting, as Mr. Trump continued. He would become the first sitting U.S. president to meet a North Korean leader, if Mr. Kim was sincere and understood the terms. "Tell him yes," the president said. [The Wall Street Journal]

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.