The intelligence estimate of what Kim Jong Un is and is not willing to negotiate has leaked! NBC has the details:
A new U.S. intelligence assessment has concluded that North Korea does not intend to give up its nuclear weapons any time soon, three U.S. officials told NBC News — a finding that conflicts with recent statements by President Donald Trump that Pyongyang intends to do so in the future.
President Trump is continuing to pursue a nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even though the CIA analysis, which is consistent with other expert opinion, casts doubt on the viability of Trump’s stated goal for the negotiations, the elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons stockpile.
“Everybody knows they are not going to denuclearize,” said one intelligence official who read the report, which was circulated earlier this month, days before Trump canceled the originally scheduled summit.
In an odd twist, a list of potential concessions by North Korea in the CIA analysis included the possibility that Kim Jong Un may consider offering to open a Western hamburger franchise in Pyongyang as a show of goodwill, according to three national security officials.
Does The Trump Doctrine of “I will be treated fairly or else” play a role in all this? Yes it does!
It suggests Kim is interested in a peaceful gesture to an American president whose love of fast-food burgers is well known — and who, during the 2016 campaign, had said he wanted to talk nukes over a burger with the North Korean leader.
And I’ll also need an Eternal President of the DPRK happy meal too!
Open thread.
p.a.
Jesuschrist if Kim buys some of Ivanka’s crap trump will give him Hawaii.
Mary G
Michael Cohen is probably calling the CEO of McDonald’s on one of his new burner phones.
Ben Cisco
So, a 빅맥치즈와 함께 , then?
Mary G
Calouste
I saw news earlier today that a North Korean delegation was heading to New York in preparation for the summit. My first thought was why New York and not DC?
NotMax
Try the Pooh-pooh Platter.
:)
(Somehow managed to snatch a couple hours sleep this afternoon. More accurately, a couple of hours of unconsciousness, essentially going dark from exhaustion. Last few days have been scoring Insomnia 1, NotMax: 0.)
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
That Kim would never give up his nukes surprises absolutely no-one. The United States neo-con complex never forgets a slight, and our word currently is only as good as the next republican president. (Republicans bargain is bad faith, so their word is never good). Plus, Bolton and Trump, acting like Bevis and Butthead going “Libya…. heh heh heh, Libya” idiotically telegraphs EXACTLY what they want to do once NK gives up its nukes.
Adam L Silverman
@Calouste: UN is there. They have a diplomatic mission to the UN, so that’s where they’re going. They don’t have an embassy in DC.
Platonailedit
A declining burger chain? LOL. Lil kim sure knows how to troll the dunce.
Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Burger Chef !
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et Al.)
I’m sorry, but if it says Kim is unwilling to give up his nuclear bombs and get down on his knees and lick President Tapeworm’s ass, it can only be fake news.
NotMax
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap
Wetson’s!
/geezerdom showing
SFAW
Trump Burgers! Short on beef (or anything else comestible), long on bullshit
And what’s the Korean word(s) for “lying grifter”?
SFAW
@NotMax:
Wow, there’s a name I haven’t heard in 40 or 50 years!
dexwood
What?! No diet soda button!
Steve in the ATL
@NotMax: got a Fitbit a few weeks ago for a work challenge. The sleep tracking has been quite the shocker. I’ve always been an insomniac but was horrified to learn just how little sleep I actually get.
B.B.A.
Coming soon to a Trump property near you.
SiubhanDuinne
@Calouste:
They prefer to negotiate with Melania.
Elizabelle
I first thought this was Lily’s post-chemo dinner order. Hungry girl.
Adam L Silverman
@dexwood: I supersized the soju!
Adam L Silverman
That special master didn’t work out too well for Michael Cohen!
Steve in the ATL
@Calouste:
You can’t get Chinese food at 3 am in DC
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Adam L Silverman: Are you sure you want to do that? Some of that stuff is stronger than vodka…… /
satby
@Steve in the ATL: yeah, it’s scary how well the Fitbit tracks (non)sleep. Some days it helpfully tells me I’ve gotten 4 hours, and ignorance of how little good sleep I got was better for me.
danielx
@SiubhanDuinne:
At least she’s less likely to regard a signed agreement as the starting point for negotiations.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Ain’t insomnia fun!
Think of all the stuff that you can get done at 3 am. Thinking, thinking, thinking……….
Adam L Silverman
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: No I really don’t. But in the context of the post, it made sense.
Jeffro
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: ahem
it is a surprise to a certain orange someone…
frosty
@Mike in NC:
From the thread below. If you’ve got time and budget, check out the Columbia Restaurant. If only to stop at the bar and sip a mojito. Still the best one we’ve found in our travels.
satby
The remnants of Alberto were supposed to hit here and in Chicago Thursday, but now it’s predicted for tomorrow. At least the heat will break.
Jackie
@B.B.A.: dog soup????
Shell
Not to mention that extra crossword puzzle.
M. Bouffant
The burger chain won’t have a “Big Kim”?
On the other hand, McDonald’s should fit well in the D.P.R.K.:
NotMax
@Jackie
Try the Puppy Platter!
:)
Steve in the ATL
@Ruckus: Asian Market Wrap on CNBC!
Gravenstone
Ya know, a fast food franchise in virgin territory like sounds like it’s right up Eric’s alley. Get out of big real estate, go franchise king!
dexwood
@Adam L Silverman:
Can’t go wrong then.
NotMax
Word to the wise: do NOT order the McDJT.
Villago Delenda Est
Donald is stupid beyond belief. Proven yet again. Every GOP member of Congress is in violation of their oath to defend the Constitution.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@Adam L Silverman: No worries, I’ve been storing up that particular bit of vitrol, waiting for the right place to drop it.
jonas
@Calouste: The DPRK mission to the UN — their only diplomatic outpost in the US — is in NYC. They don’t have an embassy in DC. I don’t think they’re actually allowed to set foot anywhere else but there while in the US.
jonas
It’s almost as if no-one did any advance diplomatic legwork on what the North Koreans wanted in exchange for a summit before agreeing to one. It’s almost like they were treating international nuclear arms negotiations like a third-rate Manhattan real estate deal.
schrodingers_cat
T doesn’t want to be treated fairly, he wants to bully the other party and bend them to his will.
Ken
@Adam L Silverman: What counts as an “item of evidence” that anyone can generate over a million of them? Other than skin cells.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
He’s got to have that Noble Piece Prize.
Ken
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: And he’s got to recoup the cost of those commemorative medallions.
Adam L Silverman
@M. Bouffant: The “Big Kim” is the Supreme Leader. Gotta pay attention to the local context.
Adam L Silverman
@dexwood: You most certainly can.
Mike in NC
Trump eating actual kimchee? Ain’t gonna happen unless smothered with a bottle or two of very sweet ketchup. Yuk! I enjoyed great Korean food in DC, Annandale, VA (Koreatown), and Honolulu.
Adam L Silverman
@Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]: Happy to have been able to help.
chopper
@NotMax:
“what the hell is this orange sauce??”
Adam L Silverman
@Ken: I have no idea. Probably each paper document. Each electronic document or file. And each phone call, email, and/or text message.
Mike in NC
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?: Nobel Putz Prize, maybe.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mike in NC: I’ve enjoyed great Korean food in Seoul!
Pro tip: Bulgogi and Kagogi are not the same thing.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Adam, I’ve had North Korean soju, YOU DO NOT WANT TO DRINK THAT!
Adam L Silverman
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I’m aware. But it made sense, in context, for the snark I was writing.
M. Bouffant
@?BillinGlendaleCA: North Korean, yet. Does it kill tapeworms?
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I sense a dare.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steve in the ATL:
You can get Korean barbecue in Annandale. Damn good, too. Yechon, Honey Pig, etc.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: I drink very little. Like one every 3 months on average. So highly unlikely it would happen.
sukabi
@Ken: just guessing but he may have been a prolific record keeper…documented / recorded all his communications with his money laundering partners. May have also done like Roger Stone and kept documentation on his potential blackmail targets…
magurakurin
@Tilda Swintons Bald Cap:
Gino’s!
NotMax
@Adam L. Silverman
Some of us labor unsung in the shadows to keep the average up.
;)
Arclite
Kim offers Trump that he can open up a branch of Trump University in Pyongyang. Trump agrees, lifts sanctions, and restores full diplomatic relations.
Barney
‘Chicken Supreme Leader’ comes in a double pun!
Kristine
@satby: He’s supposed to drop a half inch or so of rain in far NE Illinois. I mowed the lawn yesterday in preparation.
TenguPhule
Kimchi, you heathen barbarian!
TenguPhule
@M. Bouffant:
Dude, it kills everything.