On CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Rex Tillerson spoke about our ongoing problems with North Korea, and said that he’s committed to diplomacy even though Trump has repeatedly tweeted that diplomacy wouldn’t work:
“Those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops.”
Great. Good. Fantastic. Tillerson’s boss, though, thinks that we’re better off just nuking North Korea back to the Stone Age and being done with it. A few weeks ago, Tillerson announced that he was in China working on direct communication with North Korea to try and calm things down. Trump pissed off a lot of people when he threw Tillerson to the wolves on Twitter over that:
I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
…Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 1, 2017
Tillerson also said this morning that Trump does support continued diplomacy, apparently saying he actually wants to see the problem solved diplomatically. Gee…it really doesn’t sound like he wants a diplomatic solution. If he does, then it’s long past time for someone to take Trump’s phone away and deactivate his Twitter account:
Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017
…hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017
Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn’t work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2017
In response to that, Tillerson apparently decided to go meek and say that all Trump was trying to do with these tweets was “motivate action.” Unfortunately, Trump’s Twitter tirades are likely not part of some grand, complex strategy to accomplish anything. If he appears to support continued diplomacy with North Korea, it’s only because someone else is actually saying it.
Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images
