Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday congratulated President Donald Trump on the “major step” he took in meeting with North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un in Singapore. But, speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell hedged any optimism about the summit.
“Resolving this 65-year-old international challenge will take a great deal of hard work,” the Senate leader said.
“I support the goals contained in the joint statement, and I remain supportive of the administration’s stated position,” he added, of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Should North Korea “not prove willing to follow through,” he said, “we and our allies must be prepared to restore the policy of maximum pressure.”
“Today I congratulate the President on this major step, and share his hope that it will begin a process that leads to an historic peace.”
Earlier Tuesday, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) tweeted an article detailing Kim’s human rights abuses, as “a reminder of who we are dealing with.”
Atrocities Under Kim Jong-un: Indoctrination, Prison Gulags, Executions https://t.co/b2SeV9tgO2
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 12, 2018
Is this a subtweet? https://t.co/Mu2ENISlFq
— Emily C. Singer (@CahnEmily) June 12, 2018
Just a reminder of who we are dealing with. https://t.co/7KBt9QVWHz
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) June 12, 2018
Once again a profile in courage, Turtle.
As usual, Trump is adopting the language of our adversaries. Reporting is that the Pentagon is Not Happy with Trump rolling over and showing his belly to Kim.
Sounds like a turtle-wrangler whose mount got away from him.
Unpredictable and untrustworthy, temperamentally shaky, ungrounded. Who knew trying to steer Donald Trump through precarious international relations could be so complicated?
I mean, aside from than everyone who comments here and everyone who voted for Hillary Clinton.
We’re now learning that South Korea is completely bemused about the suspension of the ‘war games,’ i.e., deterrent military exercises, it jointly conducts with US.
Another piece of the authoritarian axis falls into place. South Korea, a functioning friendly democracy and open society, will soon be the new Canada. This is all so obvious.
Wait… did we agree to lax sanctions in the deal, i don’t think i saw that anywhere. Only thing i saw was saying we will pay millions for bodies and we will stop doing are joint military exercises.
It is going to be so hard for NK to follow through on all the promises it didn’t make.
Except for the idea about showing up at the White House for another photo op.