Trump Grappling With Risks of Proceeding With North Korea Meeting
David E. Sanger | New York Times
President Trump, increasingly concerned that his summit meeting in Singapore next month with North Korea’s leader could turn into a political embarrassment, has begun pressing his aides and allies about whether he should take the risk of proceeding with a historic meeting that he had leapt into accepting, according to administration and foreign officials. Mr. Trump was both surprised and angered by a statement issued on Wednesday by the North’s chief nuclear negotiator, who declared that the country would never trade away its nuclear weapons capability in exchange for economic aid, administration officials said. The statement, while a highly familiar tactic by the North, represented a jarring shift in tone after weeks of conciliatory gestures.
In Hard-Line Speech, Pompeo Criticizes Iran’s Behavior
Gardiner Harris | New York Times
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first major policy address to deliver a hard-line speech on Monday, in which he demanded that Iran change just about everything regarding its behavior on the world stage. He insisted that Iran end all nuclear enrichment programs and close its heavy water reactor, saying it did not have the right to such a program. He also appealed directly to the Iranian people, suggesting they should reject the clerical government in Tehran, the capital.
Pence: North Korea Will End Like Libya Only If ‘Kim Jong Un Doesn’t Make a Deal’
Sophie Tatum, James Griffiths | CNN
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea that it could end up like Libya if it fails to make a nuclear deal with Washington. Previous comments, by President Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, that the administration was looking at Libya as a potential example for North Korea to follow, provoked alarm in Pyongyang.
Moon Mission: South Korea Fights to Keep Trump-Kim Summit on Track
Jonathan Cheng | Wall Street Journal
South Korea’s leader arrived in Washington on Monday with a high-wire bid for peace on the Korean Peninsula—and his own status as peacemaker—in the balance.The challenge for South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump on Tuesday, is to keep on track a historic planned meeting between Mr. Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that looks increasingly at risk of being derailed.
Revealed: Pentagon Push to Hack Nuke Missiles Before They Launch
Spencer Ackerman | Daily Beast
The Pentagon has embraced a controversial policy of destroying enemy nuclear missiles before they launch, an internal policy document from May 2017 shows. It’s an effort that appears to include executing cyberattacks against missile control systems or components.The Pentagon document does not name adversaries. But experts who reviewed it for The Daily Beast considered it aimed at North Korea—and may represent a fallback option for the Trump administration should its June 12 summit with Kim Jong Un fail to result in the denuclearization President Trump desires.
Putin Claimed a New Nuclear-Powered Missile Had Unlimited Range—But It Flew Only 22 Miles in Its Most Successful Test Yet
Amanda Macias | CNBC
Russian President Vladimir Putin bragged earlier this year that his country had a new nuclear-powered missile with unlimited range — but it has yet to perform a successful test over multiple attempts, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report on the weapons program.The cruise missile was tested four times between November and February, each resulting in a crash, according to sources who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. assessed that the longest test flight lasted just more than two minutes, with the missile flying 22 miles before losing control and crashing. The shortest test lasted four seconds and flew for five miles.