The Daily - Alienating Allies and Wooing Enemies

Episode Date: June 11, 2018

While on his way to the historic summit meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea, President Trump isolated himself from other world leaders by refusing to endorse a joint statement of the Group of 7 nations, which had just met in Canada. Why is the president picking fights with America’s closest allies and embracing its longtime opponents? Guest: Mark Landler, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, who is reporting from Singapore on the talks between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

From The New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. Today, President Trump blows up the G7 in Canada on his way to talks with North Korea. Why he is picking fights with allies and seeking peace with enemies. It's Monday, June 11th. with allies, and seeking peace with enemies. It's Monday, June 11th. How do I spell the last name? L-A-N-D-L-E-R.

And the first name will be Mark? Mark. All right, just give me a moment, sir. Just stay online, please. Hello? Hey, Mark, it's Michael. Hey, Michael, how are you? Good, good, good.

Where am I reaching you? I am in Singapore. I am 12 hours ahead of you. And I'm staying at the hotel where President Trump just arrived a few hours ago. And he will be meeting here in about 36 hours with Kim Jong-un. The historic summit in just a few weeks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump is now off this coming in a letter that President Trump has written before Kim could break up with him, Trump broke up with Kim. I felt that a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me.

And ultimately is only that dialogue that matters. Someday, I look very much forward to meeting you. It's kind of shocking that this meeting with Kim Jong-un is actually happening. It feels like it was just a couple of days ago that I was talking to you about this painful breakup letter that Trump had sent to Kim calling off this meeting. I mean, this has been an on-again, off-again affair from the beginning. The North Koreans hand-delivered a letter to Trump. Who doesn't love a letter? I would love to see what's in that letter. It was really a very warm letter, a very nice letter. I appreciated it very much. And nothing other than we look forward to seeing you and we look forward to the summit and hopefully some wonderful things will work out.

I think that the president would probably claim that it was a brilliant tactical move, but I think what it really showed more than anything else was how personally invested the president is in this meeting. And in a sense, it's a very interesting contrast to the way he dealt with the leaders of our allies, our closest allies, at the meeting that he came to Singapore from, the G7. Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? The meeting starts off on a very bad note. Russia should be in the meeting. It should be a part of it.

Trump tells reporters on his way to the helicopter that's going to take him to Canada that he thinks Russia should be readmitted to the G7. You know, whether you like it or not, and it may not be politically correct, but we have a world to run. And in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. The G7 is a group that's composed of the world's leading market economies, the world's leading democracies. These are NATO allies.

These are effectively America's closest friends in the world. So for the most part, historically, G7 conferences are a place where America and its like-minded friends get together and talk about how to tackle the great problems of the world. Russia, if you'll remember, was kicked out of the G7, which was then known as the G8, after the invasion of Crimea. They should let Russia come back in because we should have Russia at the negotiating table. So this is an extremely controversial thing to throw out there just before he flies up to meet the leaders. And they're completely caught off guard because they've had no advance warning or any sense that the United States might take this position.

And Paul, this G7 summit is really off to an awkward start. The president arriving here in Quebec late and he's leaving early. And this morning he was late to the first working session, leaving the other six world leaders gathered around an empty chair. So he arrives in Canada, having shaken everyone up, and the leaders then sit down and start talking about the issues that are on the table. And many of those issues are about trade. Very important subject because the United States

has been taken advantage of for decades and decades, and we can't do that anymore. President Trump feels that many of our G7 partners are, in effect, ripping us off. Tariffs are going to come way down because people cannot continue to do that. We're like the piggy bank that everybody's robbing, ripping us off. Tariffs are going to come way down because people cannot continue to do that. We're like the piggy bank that everybody's robbing and that ends. So at the end of a typical G7 meeting, there's a communique, a joint declaration signed by

all seven members that usually includes a commitment to counterterrorism or climate change or open economies, some kind of a joint declaration that basically codifies and expresses the ways that these seven leading countries are going to work together. And at one point, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, who has spent a lot of time cultivating President Trump personally, says, well, maybe we will sign a communique without the United States. Maybe it'll just be the G6. ends, things look like they've settled down. And there seems to be a sense of optimism that the G7, the seven members, can agree on a joint statement. I would say that the level of relationship is a 10. We have a great relationship. Angela and Emmanuel and Justin, I would say the relationship is a 10. But that's before Prime Minister Trudeau gives a news conference.

It would be with regret, but it would be with absolute certainty and firmness that we move forward with retaliatory measures on July 1st, applying equivalent tariffs to the ones that the Americans have unjustly applied to us. I have made it very clear to the president that it is not something we relish doing, but it is something that we absolutely will do, because Canadians, we're polite, we're reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around. And these comments really stick in President Trump's craw. And he decides, in effect, to reverse the position of the United States. The U.S. was going to sign the communique, and now he declares it's not going to sign it. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the G7 joint

communique and called his Canadian counterpart, quote, very dishonest and weak. President Trump was quick to respond on Twitter. He called Trudeau dishonest and weak. President Trump was quick to respond on Twitter. He called Trudeau dishonest and weak and accused him of releasing false statements and that the U.S. will pull back from its endorsement of the G7 summit's communique. And how unusual is it for the U.S. president not to sign this communique? Extremely unusual. I mean, the U.S. is viewed in some senses as the convener of the G7. And so for the U.S. to stand apart from the other six countries, it's just an enormous symbolic break with the tradition of this group of nations, our closest allies. It sort of suggests a level of dissent and a rift in the alliance that's

really quite unprecedented. And why do you think that the president took this extremely unusual position of not signing the communique? Is it really about Trump feeling that the U.S. is getting a rotten deal when it comes to trade? And if so, isn't the point of having allies that you all kind of agree that you're on the same side and that you're supposed to pursue conflict resolution through soft diplomacy and behind the scenes-scenes negotiations? Well, I think you're right historically. I think what's going on here is that President Trump does not view alliances like any of his predecessors did. President Trump actually takes the view that our allies, our free riders, our allies, have been taking advantage of us. So far from viewing our

allies as friends with whom we need to iron out differences behind closed doors, President Trump does not mind and, in fact, delights in going after our allies publicly, in turning away from them, in rebuffing them. And that's apparently how he's decided to go after this G7 meeting. And he announces this decision in the most ironic of all possible places, on Air Force One, flying to Singapore for a meeting with Kim Jong-un, who's not only an adversary of the United States, but arguably the most dangerous adversary that we now have. In just a few minutes, I'll be leaving for Singapore. I'll be on a mission of peace and we will carry in really in my heart.

We're going to be carrying the hearts of millions of people, people from all over the world. We have to get denuclearization. We have to get something going. We really think that North Korea will be a tremendous place in a very short period of time. And we appreciate everything that's going on, and we appreciate the working together with North Korea. They're really working very well with us.

So I say, so far, so good. We're going to have to see what happens. So as you're sitting in Singapore, waiting for this summit with North Korea, we've got the president leaving this meeting with our greatest allies, having blown up the usual diplomacy, and headed for this meeting with,

arguably, our greatest adversary, very eager to make a deal. Yeah, I mean, you couldn't imagine something more ironic, but in a funny way, it's actually been true of the Trump presidency from the very beginning. The pattern with President Trump has been to pick fights with our friends and to cultivate our adversaries, whether it's Russia, China, Turkey, or in this case, North Korea. The pattern is established. His style is to try to build a rapport with countries that are historically not our friends

while pushing back very hard on the countries that are historically our friends. We'll be right back. So, Mark, set the scene for me in Singapore. What's going on there in preparation for this meeting on Tuesday? Well, you now have the two leaders sitting in luxury hotels less than a mile from each other. President Trump is at the Shangri-La, where I am. Kim Jong-un is at the St. Regis. At Kim's hotel, they've actually erected this sheet of netting around the hotel so onlookers and reporters and the press can't peer inside.

Wow. Over here at the Shangri-La, where I'm staying, it's a slightly less unusual scene, although there are dozens and dozens of Secret Service and other American officials roaming the hallways. And so what you have in essence is these two leaders who have come thousands of miles to meet each other. In Kim's case, the farthest he's ever flown since he became the leader of North Korea, now sitting in what amounts to base camps less than a mile from each other here in Singapore. And how is this meeting actually supposed to unfold? What's the plan for the summit?

Well, on Tuesday morning at nine o'clock, the two leaders will go to yet another hotel. This one is located on an island, Sentosa Island, which is just off Singapore. It's connected by causeways and bridges. And this is kind of billed as a fun little resort island. Welcome to Singapore's sunny island of Sentosa. A short train, bus, taxi or even a cable car right away from the city. It's a one-stop holiday destination that boasts of dozens of attractions, restaurants, bars, beaches. There's a Ferris wheel. There's a Universal Studios theme park. Opportunities for you to have some fun in the sun. It's basically a resort getaway

that's right next to the city. And the two leaders will meet at this old restored colonial hotel, and they will walk into a large meeting room, each from opposite ends, cross the room and shake each other's hands. There'll be a phalanx of cameras to record the moment, and then they will sit down and get down to business. Thank you very much, everyone. And what do we know about how President Trump has been preparing for this historic meeting? How are you doing to prepare for the summit with North Korea? I think I'm very well prepared.

I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude. It's about willingness to get things done. But I think I've been preparing for the summit for a long time. Well, if you listen to President Trump, the answer is he hasn't really been preparing all that much. This isn't a question of preparation. It's a question of whether or not people want it to happen. And we'll know that very quickly. Trump's feeling is that you don't really prepare for an encounter like this.

He said in Canada before he left, how long will it take to figure out whether or not they're serious? I said, maybe in the first minute that these are kind of spur of the moment things. I think within the first minute, I'll know just my touch, my feel. That's what that's what I do. He has no doubt been talking to his aides about the issues involving North Korea, whether it's denuclearization or a peace agreement to end the Korean War. But at the end of the day, he's anticipating this to be, you know, a fairly personal gut level encounter. I don't think he's buried himself in briefing books. I think he's assuming he's going

to go in, take the measure of the man and go from there. You know, the way they say that, you know, if you're going to like somebody in the first five seconds, you ever hear that one? Well, I think that very quickly, I'll know whether or not something good is going to happen. I also think I'll know whether or not it will happen fast. So he's building this around instinct, kind of his instinct for whether or not Kim is sincere and this might go well. What does that mentality from Trump tell us about what to expect to see at this encounter? Well, I think it tells us a couple of things. First, President

Trump is going to approach this with a great deal of flexibility. He's already said publicly that he views this as a process. It's not a single meeting that's meant to produce a definitive outcome. He views this as the first of multiple meetings, maybe many meetings. The second thing to expect is that I think this is really very much about the two leaders meeting and shaking hands. And I think what's notable about the way that this meeting is scheduled to unfold is that the photo op, the two leaders shaking hands in front of a wall of cameras, is going to happen at the very beginning of the session. So that in some sense, that act is more important, is more significant to President Trump than the substance of the actual conversation that follows it.

And I think this will allow President Trump to declare some kind of victory or some kind of success, regardless of what he and Kim actually talk about, because it's the act of meeting that's really, for him, the most important thing. And so for me, as a reporter following this event, the big question is, what else is going to happen aside from this photo opportunity? Will there be a substantial conversation? Will there be a commitment

on the North Korean side? Will there be a corresponding commitment on the American side? Or will it really just be the most extravagant photo opportunity of the year. Critics say it's just a photo op. What do you tell them?

Well, it's going to be much more than a photo op. I think it's a process. I've told you that many times before. I think it's not a one-meeting deal. It would be wonderful if it were. You know, they've been doing this for a long time. There's been a lot of enemies out there, a lot of dislike, a lot of hatred between countries. This will not be just a photo op.

This will be, at a minimum, we'll start with perhaps a good relationship, and that's something that's very important toward the ultimate making of a deal. I'd love to say it could happen in one deal. Maybe it can. They have to denuke. If they don't denuclearize, that will not be acceptable. Mark, I'm struck by how flexible and open-minded Trump is being with North Korea, this longtime determined enemy, and how rigid he was with our oldest allies over at the G7. How do you explain the discrepancies here? What do you make of it? I think at one level, this is just Trump being a disruptor, Trump flouting conventional wisdom, Trump breaking all the

rules. But on another level, I think this is actually his theme of America first in practice. I think President Trump views his relationships with these countries in terms of what does it gain America in the moment. So for example, going hard on our allies on trade is to America's short-term advantage, in his view. Likewise, embracing North Korea, as he is going to do here in Singapore this week, he believes is to America's advantage. And if the price of that is throwing our allies under the bus or cozying up to a brutal dictator. He's willing to do that because his view of American foreign policy is at heart transactional. He's interested in making immediate gains. He's not interested in some long-term positioning of the United States in world affairs.

He's really trying to score one victory at a time. and world affairs, he's really trying to score one victory at a time. Right. It's kind of America first in extreme or America first no matter the long-term cost, because it might mean that today, you know, history be damned, we forsake our oldest allies like Britain or France and treat our deepest enemy, North Korea, as a friend because that's what seems in the moment to be best for America. That's right. And I think the flaw in the argument is that it doesn't take into account what the long-term risks and costs are. So in the case of Europe, picking a battle with Germany, France, and England on trade could lead to some long-term costs, not just on trade, but in other parts of our relationship.

And likewise, being too accommodating to North Korea in this week's summit meeting could lead to costs down the road, particularly if the North Koreans take advantage of the United States or string us along in some nuclear negotiation that goes on forever. So these short-term victories carry in them long-term costs. And that's, of course, the great risk of the America First strategy. And yet this approach to America First, despite the risks that it poses, it has allowed the president of the United States to meet with the leader of North Korea for the first time. So arguably, isn't it working? Well, this is a very interesting question.

well this is a very interesting question i mean it is very easy to take shots at president trump because he is so unprepared because he is so driven by ego and vanity and his sense of self but these very same qualities have as you say allowed President Trump to get farther than any of his predecessors did in dealing with a North Korean leader. So to some extent, you sort of have to withhold judgment and wait and see whether breaking all the rules and proceeding in this idiosyncratic way actually produces an unprecedented outcome. I think it's a long shot in the case of North Korea, but I wouldn't exclude it. And I think all of us who are here in Singapore are going to sort of be, as I said earlier, withholding judgment to see whether this very unusual experiment produces Mark, thank you very much. We'll be in touch shortly after the meeting. Thank you, Michael.

Here's what else you need to know today. He is not going to permit any show of weakness on the trip to negotiate with North Korea, nor should he. So this was about North Korea? Of course it was in large part. So because Trudeau said that as Trump was going to Singapore. Well, you know, one thing leads to another. Oh, I see. They are all related. On Sunday, in an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper,

President Trump's top economic advisor, Larry Kudlow, connected the president's decision to pull out of the G7 statement to his upcoming meeting with Kim Jong-un. Kudlow said that Trudeau's comments had made Trump appear weak going into tomorrow's summit. You just don't behave that way, okay? It's a betrayal. Essentially double-crossing.

Not just double-crossing President Trump, but the other members of the G7 who were working together and pulling together this communique. You never get everything you want. There are compromises along the way. President Trump played that process in good faith. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro.

See you tomorrow.