Next week, the leaders of the United States of America and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will meet for one of the most important diplomatic summits so far in this century. It’s been known forever that Trump is just gonna wing it, especially considering he canceled it and then brought it back. But you’d hope that maybe, just maybe, he’d shut the fuck up about how not seriously he’s taking it.
“I don’t think I have to prepare very much,” Trump told reporters on Thursday of his meeting with Kim Jong-un. “It’s about attitude. It’s about willingness to get things done.” And then, later, Trump said this, according to the AP:
“I think I’ve been prepared for this summit for a long time, as has the other side,” he said. “II think they’ve been preparing for a long time also. So this isn’t a question of preparation, it’s a question of whether or not people want it to happen.”
Folks. I’m the most prepared guy there is. You won’t even believe how prepared I am. People see me and they say, “Wow. There goes Mister Preparation.” You really are hearing this more every day.
According to the AP, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—presumably realizing it’s bad for the president to admit he’s a proud know-nothing dumbass in public—covered for him (emphasis mine):
Administration officials indicated that Trump actually was putting in preparation time. National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis noted the president met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton Thursday afternoon “to continue their strategic discussions” ahead of the summit.
Pompeo said he was confident the president would be fully prepared and dismissed reports of division inside Trump’s foreign policy team over the decision to embrace the meeting with Kim.
In his previous role as CIA director, Pompeo told reporters Thursday, “there were few days that I left the Oval Office, after having briefed the president, that we didn’t talk about North Korea.”
Absolutely. For sure.
The summit is on June 12, although Trump said Thursday that he thinks it’s not going to be a “one meeting deal.” Dennis Rodman is reportedly considering going. Should be fun.