National security council spokesman Michael Anton explained the process by which President Donald Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in a Friday morning interview with Fox and Friends.
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Anton explained that South Korea’s national security advisor traveled to the U.S. after meeting Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang days earlier and delivered an oral offer of a meeting to Trump. The White House spokesman further credited Trump’s sanctions and pressure campaign on North Korea with the breakthrough offer along with the diplomatic vigor of South Korean president Moon Jae-In.
Anton also reacted to a clip of former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s criticism of the Trump administration’s North Korea policy.
“Cavalier threats to start a war are dangerous and short-sighted,” the former secretary of state stated. “I am worried about some of the recent actions from the new administration that seem to raise tensions. Our allies are now expressing concerns about America’s credibility and reliability. And by the way, picking fights with Kim Jong Un just puts a smile on his face.”
The NSC spokesman laughed it off saying “to me, personally, it brings me back to the 1980s and the days of the Cold War and Jane Kirkpatrick’s famous phrase the San Francisco Democrats, a reference to the 1984 Democratic Convention always blaming America First.”
“I think it’s extraordinary to hear a former secretary of state talk about the United States engaging in provocations during a year of 2017 when the North Koreans tested over one dozen long-range missiles, fired missiles over Japan,” he continued. “Threatened U.S. allies. Test you had nuclear devices and engaged in an extraordinary campaign of provocation that this administration and our allies and partners had no choice but to respond to.”
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