Trump Offers Clumsy Olive Branch to North Korea

U.S. President Donald Trump surprised his own administration on Friday by offering a blunt olive branch to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Twitter, reversing a proposed sanctions package only a day after his national security advisor had touted other sanctions as “important actions.”

The reason for the move, explained White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, is that “President Trump likes Chairman Kim and he doesn’t think these sanctions will be necessary.”

With negotiations apparently stalled, some experts said the surprise action will only undercut the U.S. stance, which calls for applying maximum pressure on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons and missile program. It also appeared to reflect Trump’s aim to rescue a policy that less than a year ago, following his first summit with Kim in Singapore, he had declared a success.

Read the full article and more in Foreign Policy.