If Only Nixon Could Go To China, Can Only Donald Trump Solve North Korea?

If, as the old Vulcan proverb says, only Nixon could go to China, is it possible only Donald Trump can solve the problem of North Korea’s nuclear weapons?  In a joint statement with Kim Jong Un, President Trump has agreed, in exchange for North Korea’s promise to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea.

If Barack Obama had agreed to that, which I don’t think he would have, I would have criticized him for naiveté in the extreme.  We have given up the right to conduct military exercises with South Korea, in exchange for a promise that North Korean leaders have made before – and broken every time.  Why is this time different?  Is it because President Trump has a special bond with Kim Jong Un?  Like he said he had with President Emmanuel Macron of France.

The problem is that once military exercises are suspended, it is going to be harder to resume them than he thinks, even if North Korea doesn’t follow through on its promise to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”  But then there are lots of things President Trump doesn’t appreciate because he doesn’t know or understand about history.¹

With this agreement, we have given up something substantial for a promise that has been made and broken before.  Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.
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¹ He is worse than his predecessor, and he was pretty bad.