To ask the question is to answer it!

Roger Kimball writes in American Greatness,

...But suppose an American president was interested in helping out the people who live in this part of China. What should he do? Threaten the president of China? (Threaten what, by the way? War?) Or should he make soothing noises, saying that he is sure that the Chinese leader will step up and do the right thing all the while, nota bene, continuing U.S. tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods?

Some of my friends have said Donald Trump should be acting more as Ronald Reagan acted in his interactions with Mikhail Gorbachev. Maybe. But it is worth noting that Reagan’s relations with the leader of the Soviet Union were not all “tear down this wall, Mr. Gorbachev.” They also involved a lot of blandishments, including visits to Moscow and Washington. Was all that noise? Or part of the signal that brought the Cold War to a bloodless end? Just a day or two ago, Trump suggested that President Xi go to talk to the protestors in Hong Kong. This happened even as Xi had scores of Chinese troop-carrying trucks massing on the border. Some people thought that Trump was wrong to take so mild an approach. Maybe. But maybe his combination of strong actions in the form of tariffs and, more generally, a demand for fair trade, coupled with emollient, face-saving rhetoric will be effective.

At any rate, the situation in China reminds me of one of the political philosopher James Burnham’s famous political laws: Where there is no alternative there is no problem. What’s the alternative to Donald Trump on any of these issues? Joe Biden? Elizabeth Warren? Bernie Sanders? To ask the question is to answer it.

Read more here.

Kim Jon Un receives a letter "of excellent content" from President Trump

In the Conservative Treehouse, Sundance reports,

Remember, generally speaking President Trump held two connected objectives: (1) removing the threat posed by North Korea by severing the ability of Beijing to use the proxy province as a weapon (Kim hostage); and (2) deconstructing the growing economic influence of China.

President Trump now moves to phase two of the plan.(Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a personal letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and will put serious thought into its content, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA said.

In a report published early on Sunday in Asia, KCNA did not give details on the letter, but said Kim described it as “of excellent content.”

Chairman Xi Jinping (China) and President Moon Jae-in are scheduled for a G20 meeting. This is the magnanimous panda meeting that was set up first by Beijing. Xi will play the role of magnanimous panda in denuclearizing the DPRK and using Moon Jae-in as the panda optic of peace with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Chairman Xi will then meet with President Trump for ‘expanded’ talks at the G20. This meeting was set up after the magnanimous panda play was scheduled. Here, Chairman Xi will offer President Trump peace and a denuclearized DPRK (essentially Beijing taking their missile technology back) in exchange for trade concessions.

President Trump is scheduled to travel to South Korea for a meeting with Moon Jae-in after the G20 (that’s new today).

From Xi’s position, Moon Jae-in will fill in the details of the denuclearized DPRK to President Trump. However, what Chairman Xi is about to discover is that Trump doesn’t care about cunning magnanimous panda, and there will be no concessions (except possibly a return to the original commitment by Vice-Chairman Liu He).

The Trump letter to Kim is likely saying congratulations on the threat removal; and now we both know you are less captive… with some new possibilities outlined therein.

Read more here.

Trump's strategy re: North Korea

Sundance at The Conservative Treehouse outlines the strategic moves made by the Trump team to get us to where we are with Kim Jong Un.

♦ First, any review of the enhanced sanctions against N-Korea should be incorporated with the larger issue of policy toward the DPRK’s enabler, China. From the outset President Trump, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Ross positioned a severely consequential trade reset between the U.S. and China.

♦Second: The enhanced U.S. energy export initiatives, in conjunction with lower oil prices, an outcome of U.S. energy policy and a mutually beneficial relationship between President Trump and Arab states in the GCC, severely weakened the economic position of Russia.

Russia’s energy export economy is dependent on energy prices remaining high. President Trump brilliantly worked the geopolitical economic relationships to leverage influence over a large portion of the Russian economy.

♦Third: By focusing on the utilization of economic influence over Russia and China, President Trump set the stage for U.S. led United Nations sanctions that would isolate Kim Jong-Un and cut off his previously utilized financial escape routes.

♦Fourth: While no-one was paying attention to the real end-goal; President Trump instructed Defense Secretary James Mattis to send the largest ever U.S. naval fleet into Southeast Asia in preparation for a naval blockade around North Korea. The U.S. military is not the leverage, the military helps create leverage. The leverage itself is economic. Financial interests are always the best leverage to use because inherent within the fundamental principles of economics is “self-interest”.

Each of these four elements was independent; each of these moves was a long-term strategy; each of these four elements built upon the step that preceded it. When we combine these four strategic points we discover the leverage President Trump created (economic), and the enforcement mechanism he deployed to ensure success (sanctions).

President Trump began by creating a situation where China and Russia’s best economic interests were enmeshed with supporting U.S. sanctions against the DPRK. The Bear (Russia) and Red Dragon (China) were drawn into an economic battle space controlled by entirely the Eagle (Trump-USA).

We have often noted that President Trump is seemingly one man, yet he finds a way to surround multiple enemies simultaneously. China, Russia and North Korea is one such visible example.

Read more here.

Three more people willing to give Trump credit

Sean Hannity, Sebastian Gorka and Dan Bongino celebrate possible breakthrough with North Korea.

Pacing and leading North Korea to the negotiating table

Scott Adams explains how Trump and Tillerson are playing bad cop good cop to get North Korea to the negotiating table. Trump is using the visual imagery of "Fire and Fury," while Tillerson is saying "We don't want regime change." The appeal is to Kim Jong Un's ego. Never before has the US presented North Korea with the two choices in such stark, visually persuasive form. Adams calls this pacing and leading. The North Korean leader wants to survive with his ego intact. It is like a dance. Both know they do not want war. Both know they eventually have to negotiate. The table is being set that both are military powers on the brink of war, which gives each the option of being flexible.