Roseanne Barr sent Twitter into a tailspin on Monday afternoon after she tweeted that President Donald Trump "made peace" in North Korea and Iran.
Barr's tweet garnered swift corrections on Twitter, with followers pointing out that Trump's vague denuclearization deal with North Korea isn't being honored by dictator Kim Jong Un.
"I do think that Trump is being fooled!" one Roseanne replied.
Many followers dropped some knowledge for Roseanne.
Another follower noted that recent intelligence reports indicate that Pyongyang has been increasing their nuclear activity in the weeks since Trump and Kim met in Singapore last month.
So what on Earth is Barr talking about?
Perhaps she is relying upon a June 13 tweet from Trump in which he claimed: "There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea."
Ten days later, however, the president issued an executive order extending the "national emergency with respect to North Korea."
The EO focused on "the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula."
Again, Barr may have overlooked this below-the-fold June 23 headline.
But what's harder to miss was exclusive reporting from NBC News on Friday, which indicated that North Korea has been upping its enrichment of weapons-grade uranium at its nuclear facilities.
NBC wrote that U.S. intelligence agencies believe North Korea "has increased its production of fuel for nuclear weapons at multiple secret sites in recent months," and that "Kim Jong Un may try to hide those facilities" from American officials as talks of denuclearization continue.
"There's no evidence that they are decreasing stockpiles, or that they have stopped their production," said one U.S. official briefed on the latest intelligence. "There is absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the U.S."
Last week, 38 North released a report detailing the completion of upgrades and new construction at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.
“Commercial satellite imagery from June 21 indicates that improvements to the infrastructure at North Korea’s Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center are continuing at a rapid pace,” writes 38 North, who published a study of North Korea’s nuclear facilities last Tuesday.
On the subject of Barr's claim Trump made peace with Iran, that too false short of being true.
Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8, isolating the U.S. and sending our allies scrambling to keep the accord that prevented Iran from developing a nuclear weapon intact. The 2015 agreement was one of President Barack Obama's most significant foreign policy achievements.
The following day, Trump warned Iran not to restart their nuclear weapons program, something which Iran has reportedly considered doing in response to the reimposed sanctions Trump announced in May. Speaking to reporters after a cabinet meeting, the president said:
I would advise Iran not to start their nuclear program. I would advise them very strongly. If they do there will be very severe consequence.
Iran has stated it intends to remain in the agreement, in which England, France, Russia, China, and the European are all participants. What remains to be seen, however, is how Iran will respond to American provocations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has monitored Iran's activity through “the world’s most robust verification regime" since signing the accord, has confirmed that despite Trump's claims to the contrary, Iran has remained in compliance with the agreement.
“The Agency ... has conducted complementary accesses under the Additional Protocol to all the sites and locations in Iran which it needed to visit,” the IAEA said in a confidential report obtained by Reuters.
The primary critique was that Iran had been "dragging its feet" on giving "complementary access" to inspection sites.
"Timely and proactive cooperation by Iran in providing such access would facilitate implementation of the Additional Protocol and enhance confidence," the report said. Still, allies remain optimistic about the accord's prospects for barring Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the report went in the “right direction and was comforting," for example.
But allies of the United States have lamented Trump’s decision to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. German, French, and English leaders issued a scathing rebuke of Trump following his announcement.
Together, we emphasize our continuing commitment to the JCPOA. This agreement remains important for our shared security.
Obama also issued a response, outlining his disappointment and opining that leaving the agreement is a huge mistake.
The reality is clear. The JCPOA is working – that is a view shared by our European allies, independent experts, and the current U.S. Secretary of Defense.
Given these events, it's difficult to understand the basis of Barr's tweet - unless she's just trolling for attention in the wake of her show being canceled over racist tweets she posted last month.
