Trump Thread

[Montmorency]

Great photo, very artistic. Check out Japanese Scaramucci hanging in the back.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

(Here is the scene from 5 more angles.)

As expected, the photo is highly exploitable as a meme. Here are some entries:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[HopAlongBunny]

It was a big summit. A beautiful summit. Many things were said.
And that is about the level of detail Trump got from Kim:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/here-i...ike-kims-bitch

As the article notes, unlike the Iran agreement with specific verifiable goals and an end to enrichment, this agreement contains none of that.
I suspect Trump and Kim linked pinkies and both promised to be very very good...

[Viking]

Relevant correct use of memes:




.

[Gilrandir]

Relevant correct use of memes:




.

No wonder they like each other so much. Two dictators, you know. Birds of a feather...
https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...-two-dictators

[HopAlongBunny]

This piece sums up my whole take on Trump;
Every part of his Presidency is play-acting to gratify his ego; other considerations only exist to the extent that they turn the spotlight on Trump:

http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/11/...a-for-pundits/

The comparison to the "drama and spectacle" of professional wrestling is certainly on point

[HopAlongBunny]

Concessions touted by Kim that do not appear in the Joint Statement:

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/13/61946...oint-statement

Hmmm, Trump does tend to say a lot of things when performing w/o a script
Have to see how this plays out :)

[Husar]

I'm also on the waiting list. I've said before that I'm not sure about what Kim wants. People focus on him murdering family members, but we don't know much about the kind of people these family members were and why exactly they were executed. IIRC his uncle was a major figure in the army, so hardly a saint.

I'm going to lean way out the window now, but there is the saying that evil triumphs when good people do nothing and maybe, just maybe, sometimes good people need to murder very bad people to prevent even more bloodshed in the future. If you disagree, then please jail the entire US Army and especially the guys who shot Osama bin Laden.

Obviously I'm just guessing that Kim may not be all that bad after all, but he can also be both good and bad, or the most lenient leader North Korea has to offer without mass-murdering almost everyone there and starting "fresh".

Remember this, it's not like he can just "go good" from one day to another in the regime his fathers set up:

[Pannonian]

I can't remember the original's name. Does anyone know?

[Montmorency]

Full joint statement out of Singapore:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit

President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) held a first, historic summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018.

President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations and the building of a lasting and robust peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.


Convinced that the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations will contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Korean Peninsula and of the world, and recognizing that mutual confidence building can promote the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un state the following:

1. The United States and the DPRK commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.

2. The United States and the DPRK will join their efforts to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.

3. Reaffirming the April 27, 2018 Panmunjom Declaration, the DPRK commits to work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

4. The United States and the DPRK commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.

Having acknowledged that the U.S.-DPRK summit — the first in history — was an epochal event of great significance in overcoming decades of tensions and hostilities between the two countries and for the opening up of a new future, President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un commit to implement the stipulations in this joint statement fully and expeditiously. The United States and the DPRK commit to hold follow-up negotiations, led by the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and a relevant high-level DPRK official, at the earliest possible date, to implement the outcomes of the U.S.-DPRK summit.

President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and Chairman Kim Jong Un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea have committed to cooperate for the development of new U.S.-DPRK relations and for the promotion of peace, prosperity, and security of the Korean Peninsula and of the world.

(Signed)

DONALD J. TRUMP

President of the United States of America

KIM JONG UN

Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

June 12, 2018

Sentosa Island

Singapore

Elsewhere, as noted in HABunny's article, Trump remarked that he would give Kim the benefit of the doubt by canceling all US-Korea war exercises until further notice. The US and ROK militaries announced that they had not received any orders to that effect and that they expected the exercise planned for August to proceed. Meanwhile, China immediately leapt on the statement with satisfaction.

So, here's a Nork-style propaganda video the Trump administration put out about the summit. Watch this shit. Watch the whole shit. @Husar




You can read elsewhere about Trump's unusually-incoherent remarks to the press following the meetings, but here's a disturbingly-lucid short clip in which he says regarding Kim's integrity:

He'll do it, I really believe that, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this.
[...]
Honestly, I think he's gonna do these things. I may be wrong. I mean, I may stand before you in six months and say, Hey, I was wrong. I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that, but I’ll find a - I'll find some kind of an excuse.

Maximum trolling gif


So, let's sum up: The US uses inflamed rhetoric to propel a crisis, then unilaterally concedes a face-to-face meeting between Kim and POTUS (who praises "talented" Kim and the loving relationship between him and his people), concedes on military exercises (previously held as transparent, lawful, and not subject to terroristic blackmail), offers to concede on sanctions, concedes on security guarantees to the North Korean regime, all for....

............

a reaffirmation from Kim that he very much wants to see American troops and nuclear armaments off the Korean peninsula.


*heavy sigh*

[Montmorency]

Found this on a forum with Viking's 'thirsty boyfriend' meme.



IMO this is worse, since the events of 1938-9 were arguably a delaying tactic between great powers, whereas this is... good optics in the mind of Trump's base?