The Daily - “Dear Mr. Chairman …”

Episode Date: May 25, 2018

President Trump abruptly canceled on Thursday the highly anticipated summit meeting with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, that was scheduled to take place on June 12. In a letter to Mr. Kim announcing his decision, Mr. Trump wrote, “The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace.” Guest: Mark Landler, who covers the White House for The New York Times. 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 abruptly cancels a historic summit with Kim Jong-un. The world, and North Korea in particular, he writes, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace. has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace. It's Friday, May 25th. I'm here at North Korea's nuclear test site at Punggye-ri, a place that foreign journalists have never been allowed before.

And we are here, the North Korean government says, to witness the destruction of this site. They say it will never be able to be used again. Thursday began with this carefully selected group of journalists who had been flown into North Korea to witness the demolition, the blowing up of an underground nuclear testing facility. Mark Landler covers the White House for The Times. The North Koreans had made a very big show of inviting this group of outsiders to witness this act. We travel around 15 hours to get here, first by bus through the coastal city of Wonsan. hours to get here. First, by bus, through the coastal city of Wonsan.

Compartment 7, here we are. Then, some 12 hours by train. They had to truck them to a very remote site, by plane, by car. They even had to hike a certain amount of distance to get to this place, this viewing site, where they could watch this facility buried into a hillside blow up in front of them. They had three tunnels that were still remaining at the site, and they blew them up. These were major explosions. And why did North Korea demolish this site in such a public fashion? This was meant to be one of a series of confidence-building gestures by the North Koreans,

halting missile tests, releasing three Americans who'd been detained in North Korea, gestures to the United States and to South Korea that the North Koreans were serious when they said they were ready to give up their nuclear arsenal. And all of this, of course, was aimed at building confidence in advance of the big show, the meeting between Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, and President Trump. So yes, Thursday started off on a very promising note. Welcome again to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Significant breaking news on this Thursday morning. The planned summit, the historic summit in just a few weeks between Kim Jong-un and President Trump is now off.

This coming in a letter. So very soon after the end of this highly public exercise in North Korea, the demolition of this nuclear site, the White House puts out a letter at about 9.45 in the morning, late afternoon in North Korea, from President Trump to Kim Jong-un, in which the president essentially says, our meeting is off. And did anyone know that this letter was coming? No, it came completely out of the blue. And frankly, even more so because President Trump had recorded an interview with Fox, which aired early in the morning on Thursday. June 12th, are you going to be in Singapore?

We'll see what happens. In which he spoke quite optimistically about the prospects for a summit. There's a good chance and it would be a great thing for North Korea. If that happens, it'll be a great thing for North Korea. Most importantly, it would be a great thing for the world. So we'll see what happens. It really, truly was a bolt from the blue. And Mark, what does this letter from President Trump

to Kim Jong-un actually say? Well, it begins, Dear Mr. Chairman, We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12th in Singapore. We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward

to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate at this time to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place. You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful but to the detriment of the world will not take place. You talk about your nuclear capabilities,

but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used. Wow. Yes. There's a lot to unpack there. There is. And I'm struck by the line. We were informed at the meeting

was requested by North Korea, but that is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Why say that as an introduction to canceling this meeting? Well, one of the points the Americans have made from the very start is, you guys asked for this. We didn't ask for it. You came to us. We didn't come to you.

That said, President Trump, particularly as time has gone on and he's had more time to get used to the idea of this meeting and to look forward to it, has become very attracted by the prospect. And he's put a lot of time into cultivating his relationship with Kim Jong-un, even though the two men have never met. President Trump has spoken about Kim in very personal terms for quite a few weeks now. So I think that this line captures both points. One, you came to us, but two, I really was beginning to have a relationship with you. So there's kind of an earnest sentiment here that he wanted this meeting to occur and is kind of a little crushed that it's not. That's absolutely

right. I think one thing that's been very clear about President Trump, particularly in the last two to three weeks, is he really, really was looking forward to this meeting. This wasn't a show on his part. He wasn't being dragged into it. He didn't even really have misgivings about it on a personal level.

He was savoring the opportunity. He was excited by it. Okay, so then the president writes that the meeting is canceled about it on a personal level. He was savoring the opportunity. He was excited by it. Okay, so then the president writes that the meeting is canceled because of what he calls tremendous anger and open hostility from North Korea. What exactly is he referring to?

Well, the most immediate thing he's referring to is a statement that was issued overnight by a top North Korean official, the vice foreign minister. And in that statement, the official goes after Vice President Mike Pence, calling Vice President Mike Pence, quote, a political dummy, and says that he misunderstands the North Korean position and he is saying uninformed and stupid things. So there is a personal insult that's being lobbed here at the vice president.

But beyond that, the statement goes on to say that if you don't meet us in a room, maybe you'll meet us on the battlefield. You know, maybe we will have a nuclear showdown. So there's actually a very serious threat here of military hostilities that's also being rolled out by the North Koreans. But why would North Korea call the vice president of the United States a dummy?

So now to my exclusive interview with the vice president, starting with that meeting at the White House. Well, Vice President Pence invoked Libya. You know, there was some talk about the Libyan model last week. And, you know, as the president made clear, you know, this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal. Remember, the Libyan model, which we've discussed here before... Libya promised to get rid of its nuclear weapons in exchange for economic health.

Even though Libya gave up its nuclear weapons or its program, that eventually led to an overthrow of Libya. Kim Jong-un is likely mindful of Qaddafi's bloody end as opposition forces in his country gained power. I think what's at play here is that the Libya model is a particularly provocative issue for the North Koreans. And so the fact that Vice President Pence brought it up only a few weeks after John Bolton, the national security advisor, first floated the

idea may have lodged in their minds as a sign that the U.S. was not getting this model out of its head. And so they needed to push back hard on that. So I think it's a combination of anger at the Libya model, but a growing recognition of just how much distance separates the two sides. President Trump made it clear the United States of America, under his leadership, is not going to tolerate the regime in North Korea possessing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our allies. So, Trump ends this section of a letter that you read with a pretty explicit threat, pointing out that the U.S. has a, quote, massive nuclear arsenal. And it would be a shame if we had to use it. Why would he do that? I think this goes to the second part of what the North Koreans were saying in their statement,

which is this kind of threat that if you don't meet us in the negotiating table, maybe you'll meet us on the nuclear battlefield. I think this is the president reminding the North Koreans, you know what, we have more of those than you do. It was really, I think, no more complicated than that. It's a little incongruous to have the president say how sad he is to not do this meeting he really wanted to do and simultaneously say we might nuke you. Yeah, no kidding. I mean, there's a lot of paradoxes, but there's been paradoxes in President Trump's relationship with Kim Jong-un from the start. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.

This, after all, is a relationship that began with Trump calling him Little Rocket Man. Rocket Man should have been handled a long time ago. And then almost overnight. Things have changed very radically from a few months ago. You know, the name-calling and a lot of other things. ...turned into this very strange courtship... He really has been... ...where he wound up referring to Kim as a gentleman who had behaved honorably.

I think very honorable from everything we're seeing. There has been this paradox in how Trump has treated Kim from the beginning, and I think we do see it even in this letter today. So how does this letter end? Will you read the last two paragraphs? Trump writes, I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Someday, I look very much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. This was a beautiful

gesture and was very much appreciated. If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me a right. The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is truly a sad moment in history. Sincerely yours, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States. What do you make of this second part of the letter? Well, I think there's a couple interesting things to zero in on.

One I would point out is his phrase that the only dialogue that matters is the one between you and me. That may be a way of saying to Kim, forget about John Bolton, forget about Mike Pence, forget about the Libyan model. What matters is what you and I talk about across the table from one another.

That's what's important. Then he goes on to say, someday I look forward to meeting you and I'm thanking you for table from one another. That's what's important. Then he goes on to say, someday I look forward to meeting you and I'm thanking you for the release of the hostages. The hostages was a major gesture on Kim's part. It was something that gave President Trump an enormous lift at home. I think he was genuinely grateful for it.

And then he goes on to say, you know, if you have a change of heart, you know how to reach me, which, you know, again, is an exceedingly strange use of language in a letter between two heads of state that have never met one another. It almost feels more like a letter you might send to someone you had a fight with and you're hoping you can make up in the future.

But that's kind of the underlying tone of the whole letter. This letter is a deeply personal one. And it is worth noting, the president dictated every single word of this letter himself. Yes, this was not a letter written by committee or drafted form

by a secretary of state using time-tested language. This was President Trump's own language put down on paper. We'll be right back. It still feels like there's a little ambiguity around exactly what happened here. There's the obvious surface theory that starting with John Bolton and then Mike Pence, that language from the U.S.

spooked North Korea. And so they issued threats, and that unsettled the president, and he canceled the meeting. But what do you think is really behind this historic decision to end this historic summit? I think there's a couple of other elements that are intriguing. I'm not sure they're absolutely the main cause, but I'll mention both. One is the United States sent a group out from the White House to start making arrangements in Singapore. And they were in Singapore for three days waiting for their North Korean counterparts. And the North Koreans never showed up. They stood up the American group. And that group included the White House deputy chief of staff, Joe Hagan, a man who's planned presidential trips going all the way back to George H.W. Bush. So that, I think, was seen as quite problematic, quite a major snub on the role of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. Kim Jong-un went out to see Xi Jinping twice. Most recently, a couple of weeks ago, he went to visit him in a coastal Chinese city, Dalian. And as soon as he got back to North Korea, there was a perceptible

shift in North Korea's tone toward the United States. The big question, and President Trump himself has raised this, is what happened in that meeting with Xi? Right. I will say I'm a little disappointed because when Kim Jong-un had the meeting with President Xi in China, the second meeting, the first meeting we knew about the second meeting, I think there was a little change in attitude from Kim Jong-un. So I don't like that. Did President Xi tell Kim Jong-un to go back to Pyongyang and take a tougher tone? Or alternatively, did Kim Jong-un say to President Xi, you know, I really don't want to do this meeting. If I pull out, will you have my back?

We don't know the answer to that question, but I think it's a major part of what may have happened here. the answer to that question, but I think it's a major part of what may have happened here. I wonder if this summit was doomed from the start based on the depth of this trust and these very different goals of both countries, the U.S. demanding that North Korea immediately denuclearize, North Korea saying, we can't do that, we won't do that, we fear that that leads us to giving up our protective shield. Or was this a case of both sides, the president and his people and Kim and his people kind of mucking this all up with their actions and their statements? I think if you speak to American diplomats that have been involved in previous negotiations with North Korea, they will tell you it was doomed from the start because the gap between the two sides was simply unbridgeable. I think what President Trump managed to do, interestingly enough, by sheer force of enthusiasm

is kind of make people rethink their assumptions about North Korea. Well, maybe if the president of the United States can get Kim Jong-un across a table, they can do what 30 years of negotiators have failed to accomplish. They can actually bridge the gap. To some extent, the last week has been a reality check on that euphoria. It's been a kind of an exercise

in people throwing cold water on both Trump and Kim. And now we emerge at the end of this period with even President Trump thinking, maybe I got ahead of myself. Maybe there simply is too much distance between us for even a dealmaker like me to bridge. And I think that's what the letter also reflects. Hmm.

His conclusion that as exciting as a possibility as this was, it's not actually a good idea and probably never was. Yeah, that's right. Because the price of failure is high. Once you've had that meeting at the leader to leader level and you fail to get to the goal, where do you have left to go? I mean, one of the interesting things about what President Trump did here is he inverted the normal sequence of diplomacy. Normally, you would have begun this conversation at a much lower level. You would have met at a ministerial level. Maybe you would have moved up to the secretary of state and the foreign minister.

And only then, if you were making progress, would you bring in the big guns to actually close the deal. What President Trump did here, in effect, is he said, let's bring the big guns in for the first meeting. And I think what he discovered is the risks of doing that are simply too high. Mark, there's so much going on here, so much reading between the lines, both with this letter and with all these comments

from all these sides leading up to this letter being written. U.S. partly blaming China, North Korea is blaming John Bolton. What do you think all of this is really about, ultimately? What does this letter really represent? I think for all of the complexity, all of the different forces, all of the agendas, this letter really comes down to a relationship between two people and an attempt by one of them, President Trump, to salvage the relationship with the other, Kim Jong-un. To salvage a relationship even as he ends

this historic summit. I think maybe the president's thinking is, I got to take this step now to preserve the relationship down the road. Thank you, Mark. Thanks, Michael. In a statement on Thursday night, North Korea said it was ready to talk to President Trump,

quote, at any time. Trump's decision to cancel the summit, the statement said, did not match the world's desire. Leader Kim Jong-un had focused every effort, it said, on his meeting with President Trump. Here's what else you need to know today. Here's what else you need to know today. The Times reports that Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, is expected to surrender to police in Manhattan on Friday on charges that he raped one woman and forced another to perform oral sex on him.

It is the first time that Weinstein will face criminal charges for a pattern of alleged sexual assault that stretches back decades. And... We have done something today that was very important because we righted a wrong. It was a wrong, and a lot of people knew it. I knew it without being an expert on the subject.

I knew it for a long time. In an Oval Office ceremony on Thursday, President Trump pardoned the late boxer Jack Johnson, the country's first Black heavyweight champion, who was sent to prison in 1913 for crossing state lines with a white woman. Jack Johnson was not treated fairly, and we have corrected that,

and I'm very honored to have done it, Linda. Thank you. The case was brought to the president's attention by the actor Sylvester Stallone, who attended the White House ceremony, along with Johnson's niece, Linda Haywood. Linda, would you like to say something on behalf of Jack? This has been a long time coming. And I am really overwhelmed by this pardon being issued that would help to rewrite history and erase the shame and the humiliation that my family felt for my uncle, a great hero, being imprisoned unjustly.

The Daily is produced by Theo Balcom, Lindsay Garrison, Rachel Quester, Annie Brown, Andy Mills, Lindsay Garrison, Rachel Quester, Annie Brown, Andy Mills, Ike Sreeskanarajah, Claire Tennesketter, Paige Cowan, Michael Simon-Johnson, and Jessica Chung, with editing help from Larissa Anderson. Lisa Tobin is our executive producer. Samantha Hennig is our editorial director. Our technical manager is Brad Fisher, and our theme music is by Jim Brunberg

and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolman, Michaela Bouchard, Chris Wood, and Stella Tan. That's it for The Daily. I'm Michael Barbaro. A reminder that tomorrow we'll bring you the sixth chapter of our series, Caliphate, right here on The Daily. See you Tuesday after the holiday.