President Donald Trump broke off denuclearization talks with North Korea on Friday, firing off a series of tweets in which he blamed friction with China for a lack of "sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
"I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time," the president wrote, "because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
Trump said that because of his "much tougher Trading stance with China," he does "not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization."
The president concluded his proclamation with praise for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, sending his "warmest regards" and "respect."
I look forward to seeing him soon!
This is, of course, a total reversal from Trump's numerous assertions that North Korea no longer poses a nuclear threat.
The president appears to be reaping the consequences of his metastisizing trade war with China, on whom Trump has levied hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs since this past spring. China has imposed retaliatory tariffs on exports from the United States.
The resulting deterioration in American-Chinese relations, for which Trump is responsible, according to Trump, has left China with little reason to cooperate in the effort to denuclearize North Korea.
Social media tore into the president because really, he should have seen this coming.
This is why "previous presidents did not start a trade war with China."
So much for an "easy to win trade war," huh.
Others felt Trump canceling talks with North Korea was just an attempt at distraction from the disastrous legal week the president has had.
For others, it's simple: "You got played," Stephen King replied.
And the United States got nothing out of the "deal" Trump and Kim signed in Singapore this summer.
So much for that Nobel Prize.
Make no mistake - the collapse of the North Korea nuclear talks is a massive blow to Trump's perception of his presidency.
