Make what you will of Thomas Wictor, but this is interesting, I thought.
Thread by @ThomasWictor: "(1) Let's talk about what all the pundits and "experts" missed. Kim Jong-un depended on Trump to guide him through the summit. Trump gently […]"
Thread Reader(1) Let's talk about what all the pundits and "experts" missed.
Kim Jong-un depended on Trump to guide him through the summit.
Trump gently made all the first moves.
(2) By all accounts, Kim Jong-un is a passive young man.
His late brother Kim Jong-nam said that Kim was not leadership material.
(3) TWO brothers were passed over to make Kim Jong-un the leader.
When you have a man who never wanted the job but was forced into it, he must be treated with empathy.
(4) North Korea is called the Hermit Kingdom.
I'm a hermit.
Later today I have to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
I'll have to take a nap when I come home.
(5) When Kim Jong-un met with President Moon and now Trump, he was breathing very heavily.
He doesn't want any of this responsibility.
So Trump is HELPING him.
(6) When you're a shy hermit and you interact with Type A Alpha males with empathy, you know what they love?
They love to see you come out of your shell.
(7) Kim said something that made Trump's jaw drop, and then he laughed in a way that has never before been caught on camera.
(8) Trump is PROUD of Kim for doing this.
(9) Trump knows how hard this is for Kim.
But Kim did it anyway.
So that makes him a great man.
(10) Trump admires courage and the willingness to improve.
All the commentary is from surface skaters who either know nothing or were wedding to the failed 70-year strategy of FORCING North Korea into compliance.
(11) I don't view the North Koreans as children who need to be protected.
BUT.
"Face" and national honor mean the world to them.
(12) Kim and Trump are friends.
So far Kim has said at least ten times, "We've put the past behind us."
The "experts" missed that.
(13) My prediction is that North Korea will--without fanfare--denuclearize, make peace with the South, and then begin a multi-step reunification process.
And it will all happen very quickly.
(14) AGAIN, Trump is the flak catcher.
"He didn't get anything! He's a LOSER!"
Trump doesn't care, and neither should you.
(15) This takes the pressure off of Kim, both at home and abroad.
All is already well.
Trump's enemies will be forced to admit it in fairly short order...