Trump's Big CON: It's All About the Show, North Korea Edition

UPDATE:  "President Trump has placed his hopes on Chinese promises to more fully implement U.N. sanctions. But as even he now seems to acknowledge, this hasn’t happened. He tweeted on Tuesday: 'While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi [Jinping] & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!'

Although Trump has criticized President Barack Obama’s 'strategic patience' policy as weak and ineffectual, he has yet to distinguish his North Korea policy from his predecessor’s. Trump’s policy of 'maximum pressure' is anything but, and he continues to pull his punches against North Korean and Chinese violators of U.S. law. The Trump administration has also sent conflicting signals about whether it would negotiate with North Korea or potentially conduct a military attack to prevent the regime from mastering an intercontinental ballistic missile."

Read the Washington Post, We participated in talks with North Korean representatives. This is what we learned.

Read The Atlantic, How to Deal With North Korea, which notes that "[t]here are no good options. But some are worse than others."

"The White House announced Monday that it would host an unusual private briefing on North Korea for the entire Senate, prompting questions from lawmakers about whether the Trump administration intends to use the event as a photo op ahead of its 100-day mark. . .

Congressional staffers suggested that the briefing’s proximity to Trump would make it easy for him to 'drop by' and perhaps take over the briefing.

The image of senators meeting with Trump at the White House on a top national security concern could be touted by the White House as a key moment in the run-up to Trump’s 100th day in office — a milestone that the president has mocked in recent days but that his administration is working aggressively to promote."

Read the Washington Post, Senate staff perplexed by unusual White House private briefing on North Korea.

Read also:

Trump's Big CON: It's All About the Show (The Trump Family Show)

Trump's Big CON: It's All About the Threatre.