By Patrick Baron
WASHINGTON – Lawmakers have different opinions about the meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.
The North Korean leader reportedly committed to move toward complete denuclearization during the historic meeting.
But in a statement, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin said the summit between the two leaders “did not produce any agreement, nor any credible plan to remove the nuclear threat from the Korean Peninsula.” He does note, however, that it’s better for two world leaders to exchange positive words rather than hurl insults at one another.
On the same page as Durbin, US Senator Tammy Duckworth is criticizing Trump’s decision to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea, calling it “disappointing and offensive” to the U.S. Armed Forces and America’s allies in that region. She said we should expect more from our leaders.
Meanwhile, U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger said America can “never trust a murderous leader like Kim-Jong-un,” but he believes the summit was a step in the right direction towards an indefinite denuclearization. He also applauds the efforts the Trump administration took in order to bring Kim Jong-un to the table, saying the administration “compelled the regime to reconsider and led to a historic first meeting between the North Korean leader and the President of the United States.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says “the next steps will test whether we get a verifiable deal or not.”
Trump is hailing the summit as a success.
Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].
