The Value of Dialogue

This week contained some of the most cringeworthy sights of the Trump presidency, as the Commander-in-Chief gushed over his friendship with one of the world’s most brutal dictators. The world has every interest in the US striking a deal to denuclearize North Korea. But the president’s repeated flattery of a leader responsible for mass executions and institutional slavery seemed effortless as best, and genuine at worst. That, however, would require Donald Trump to have any capability of actually being genuine, which has not been the public case so far. So put another way, whether they were sincere or not, Donald Trump’s kind words for Kim Jong Un sounded as sincere as possible. 

Any thought that such, as Trump described it, “warmth” between the two individuals would have any effect on nuclear negotiations is totally naive, but it reflects well the hubris that defines Trump. If he was doing his own internal cringing as he called Kim such a “great leader,” if he was taking one for the team in an effort to achieve a higher goal, well, the words were wasted, as the summit ended suddenly without a deal.

Talking and negotiating with our enemies is always the best way forward, but Trump’s amateurish fawning on such a stage served only to prop up the legitimacy of a regime which needs to be reminded that it takes more than not threatening your neighbors with nuclear war to be part of the international community. There are human rights and health and welfare norms that are worth mentioning, especially when an American citizen has been victimized. When asked about Otto Warmbier, the American who was beaten until comatose while in North Korean custody, and later died, Trump gave his pal a pass, declaring that prisons are rough, and that he took the North Korean leader at his word that he was not responsible. He didn’t mention any hard, privately asked questions about who was responsible then, and if there was anyone brought to account for beating an American to death. Just that he believed the dictator who once notoriously fed his uncle to dogs as a method of execution, that he took him at his word. The obvious question in response is, why?

There is no reason to take the North Korean leader at his word. Sadly, there is no evidence that we should take the American president at his, either.  Back in Washington, the nation was getting a glimpse of the sincerity of Donald Trump, as his former lawyer and willing henchman Michael Cohen laid bare the president’s history of distortion and manipulation, including lying about his wealth. After the summit collapsed without a deal, the president explained that he had made an offer that the North Koreans rejected. Hours later, the North Koreans issued a statement refuting Trump’s description of the meeting. And in that horrifying, yet crystal clear moment, I knew that Donald Trump had taken lying and the idea of truth to a new low…because I didn’t know whom to believe.

In the past, when the American president gave one version of an event, and a regime like North Korea gave its own, it seemed pretty obvious who to believe, and why. We believe in democracy, accountability for our elected leaders, and we have a free press.

To think that Donald Trump has poisoned the very reliability of the American presidency, that we should take a moment to wonder whose version of reality to believe, North Korea’s or America’s, leaves a sinking feeling. As the feeling sinks deeper, though, one must realize a greater context, which is that that meeting was taking place in Vietnam. With that scarred nation as the backdrop, one must consider that the only greater, more consistent liar than Donald Trump is the American government.

That’s not to let Donald Trump off the hook for taking dishonesty to new levels of recognizability. It actually further highlights the need to ignore the personality and keep attempting to hold the president accountable no matter who holds the office, something the House Republicans should observe. As Cohen testified, and many already knew, Trump has a history of lying about his wealth. He has declared bankruptcy in the past, yet claims to be a billionaire, but he has never disclosed his tax returns, leaving many to wonder exactly how much Donald Trump is actually worth. I’ll leave the moral-to-dollar “worth” exchange rate to the reader. As for the worth of their words, North Korea may be impoverished, but Donald Trump holds no currency.