Tillerson confirmed that diplomatic efforts are easing tension with North Korea, but Trump undercut him in a tweet suggesting the opposite.
On Saturday at a press conference in Beijing, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson voiced a minor win in diplomacy with North Korea in stating that the U. S. was engaging in “lines of communication” amid the rising tensions between the two nations. However, President Donald Trump, character limits permissive, abruptly negated any signs of peace talks in a series of tweets on Sunday. The president wrote, “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man…”. He continued, “… Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” To conclude his impromptu foreign policy press forum, he added, “Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.” Pundits speculate an impending resignation from Tillerson, as his negotiating power has dwindled due to continued humiliation from the president.
By verbally undermining his secretary of state, Trump infused more uncertainty into the increasingly precarious relationship between the United States and North Korea. Underlying the conversation is a constant pattern of inconsistent verbiage across all aspects of foreign policy within the White House. Tillerson confirmed that diplomatic efforts are finally being made to ease tension with North Korea, but Trump undercut him in a tweet suggesting the opposite. Trump rendered NATO obsolete during his campaign and refused to confirm if he would defend an ally under Russian attack, yet he has spoken more favorably of America’s status in the treaty since his inauguration.
