Lawmakers urge caution on Trump talks with Kim Jong Un
After the announcement Thursday night that President Trump has agreed to meet by May with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un over denuclearization, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are urging Mr. Trump to proceed with caution.
Senate Foreign Relation Committee Members Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, James Risch, R-Idaho, Marco Rubio, R-Florida, Ron Johnson, R-Wisconsin, and Todd Young, R-Indiana co-signed a letter to the president insisting that he should "vigorously implement the maximum pressure campaign against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)."
The senators encouraged the possible meeting between the leaders but added that North Korea is a "grave threat" to the U.S. and its allies.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, issued a statement urging "skepticism and caution" while the talks between the two countries continue. The ranking member of the committee, Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, tweeted that North Korea's past effort for diplomatic talks regarding denuclearization "leaves considerable room for skepticism about their intentions."
But I have deep concerns about President Trump’s ability to engage in the clear-eyed diplomacy necessary to achieve a verifiably denuclearized North Korea and protect American national security interests and those of our allies.
— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) March 9, 2018
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a pointed statement directed at Kim Jong Un.
"A word of warning to North Korean President Kim Jong Un — the worst possible thing you can do is meet with President Trump in person and try to play him" Graham said. "If you do that, it will be the end of you — and your regime."