# North Korea suspending missile testing and closing nuclear site; Trump the statesman? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 20, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829 "2018-04-20T23:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/361 "2018-05-24T18:52:42Z")
I’m assuming at this point the next summit will be with that Nigerian prince that he’s been in contact with. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/362 "2018-05-24T19:06:15Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Cancelling the summit is, in fact, a good move. The summit would probably turn into an embarrassing debacle, either devolving into acrimony, or Trump giving away the store to the North Koreans because they flattered him. > > But it’s like getting credit for taking up smoking and then giving up smoking. “There was something stupid and irresponsible that I was going to do, but now I’m not going to do it. Where’s my Nobel Prize?” > > It’s just sad that certain people aren’t here to applaud this masterful diplomatic move by a master statesman. More like when a friend pulls you out of a crooked poker game when you’d already bet and lost the grocery money, but before you bet the mortgage money. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/363 "2018-05-24T19:40:56Z")
I think this qualifies as proof positive that there is no real “deep state” with any power. Because if there were, Trump would be dead before this letter saw the light of day. Poor diplomacy, particularly misunderstood or poorly-worded diplomatic missives, were the cause of World War 1, World War 2, and the first Iraq War, at the very least. And this? This is a “poorly-worded diplomatic missive” in the same way that that VHS from “The Ring” that causes you to die in 7 days is a “bad movie”. It looks like it was written by someone who barely speaks english. It looks like someone with serious dementia ran copy through google translate twice. The overall messaging is nonsensical, dangerous, and schizophrenic. All in all this may not be the worst diplomatic missive ever (feel free to present worse ones if you think you have them), but it does serve as a handy proof positive against the “deep state” conspiracy theory. Because if there actually _was_ a deep state, or a secret police, or some bullshit illuminaughty conspiracy pulling strings behind the scenes, anyone who thought this was a good idea would be _dead before the fucking ink dried_. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/364 "2018-05-24T19:58:56Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …Poor diplomacy, particularly misunderstood or poorly-worded diplomatic missives, were the cause of World War 1, World War 2, It was Germany wanting to run Europe. In WWI Gavrillo Princeps was the excuse. They were rather more honest about it in WWII. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/365 "2018-05-24T20:14:11Z")
> [@Crybaby\_Boobie](#): > > It’s amazing how often this administration can take a bad idea, suddenly realize it, and then back away from it in the most stupid way possible. You’re selling them short. They back away stupidly from good ideas, too. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/366 "2018-05-24T20:15:29Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > All in all this may not be the worst diplomatic missive ever (feel free to present worse ones if you think you have them) [The Zimmerman telegram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram) and [the Ems dispatch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_Dispatch). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/367 "2018-05-24T20:28:08Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > [The letter canceling the summit](https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/24/politics/donald-trump-letter-kim-jong-un/index.html) is a wonder to behold, and I don’t mean that in a good way. It has be a new low in diplomacy. It is, in fact, so riddled with awkward phrasing, bad grammar, and incomprehensible logic that a two-bit tinpot dictatorship would have been embarrassed by it. It’s so awful that I’m thinking Trump himself must have written parts of it, or else everyone working for him is both incompetent and illiterate in equal measure. > > A few choice bits: > > _We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant._ > What??? I repeat, what??? WTF does this even mean? > _Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, …_ > Nice move. The first thing to do in any diplomatic communication is insult the other party by blaming them for everything and calling them a bunch of angry and hostile meanies. > _Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place._ > “Please let this letter serve to represent” is not a phrase I have ever seen in any language that I speak. This is then followed by the inscrutable observation that canceling the summit is somehow good for the US and North Korea, but terrible for the rest of the world. > _You talk about nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used._ > This has to be the first time in history that a US diplomatic communication has ever stated “mine is way bigger than yours” and “we is so big and mighty youse don’t wanna mess with us”. This has “Trump” written all over it. It has to be. > _Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you._ > That would be “I very much look forward to meeting you someday”. But, hey, what’s two ungrammatical word transpositions and one spelling mistake for every ten words, other than it sounds like it was written by a newly arrived immigrant from one of those famous African shitholes who was just starting his ESL course? > _If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write._ > Wait a minute. Who’s the one doing the canceling here? How does this make even the remotest bit of sense? Also, “if you change your mind having to do with …” is not actually English, but at this point it hardly even matters. As I read this I kept telling myself "This must be a whoosh, there is no way we (the United States) would send a formal diplomatic letter written like that. So I went and found it on the NY Times site (many others) and yes, it is that bad. I used to write letters to the military chiefs of foreign countries, literally dozens of letters some of which touched on rather touchy topics, and I don’t think I ever wrote one as poorly composed as that. There are one or two sentences that I would expect to see (the first sentence of the letter and the one about freeing the hostages), but everything else…I would have been embarrassed to send such drivel. Has the diplomatic corps been so relegated to the sidelines without even being able to make editing suggestions? IMHO, Trump and Pompeo put this masterpiece together without running it by anyone. Half the writers here at the Dope demonstrate more competence with the English language than this monstrosity of a note does. Sorry for the rant-like portion, but I took my writing letters representing the US Government (albeit on a much lower level) much more seriously than this. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/368 "2018-05-24T20:28:50Z")
Quote: …but Most Supporters Have Said They Want This Heirloom of Political History Regardless of Outcome. > [@Horatius](#): > > Doesn’t that just perfectly encapsulate the entire problem with Trump Supporters? I’m sure someone now realizes they could have an entire set of failed outcome coins - Repealed Obamacare - Mighty Muslim Ban - Built the Wall - and his idiot fans would buy them all. Profit! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/369 "2018-05-24T20:30:54Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > And this? This is a “poorly-worded diplomatic missive” in the same way that that VHS from “The Ring” that causes you to die in 7 days is a “bad movie”. It looks like it was written by someone who barely speaks english. It looks like someone with serious dementia ran copy through google translate twice. The overall messaging is nonsensical, dangerous, and schizophrenic. That’s because Trump [personally dictated every word of the letter.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389269-trump-dictated-every-word-of-letter-canceling-north-korea-summit) ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/370 "2018-05-24T20:34:11Z")
sigh… ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/371 "2018-05-24T21:44:01Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [The Zimmerman telegram](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram) and [the Ems dispatch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ems_Dispatch). The diplomatic error of the Zimmermann Telegram was Zimmermann publicly admitting it was true ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/372 "2018-05-24T21:44:29Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s because Trump [personally dictated every word of the letter.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389269-trump-dictated-every-word-of-letter-canceling-north-korea-summit) I have no idea how this sort of thing works, but I would think that communications with foreign governments would be written by someone familiar with the language, politics and culture of those countries. That sounds like a note Trump would write to a girl that stood him up on a junior high date. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/373 "2018-05-24T21:47:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s because Trump [personally dictated every word of the letter.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389269-trump-dictated-every-word-of-letter-canceling-north-korea-summit) Wow. No wonder much of it came across as word salad ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/374 "2018-05-24T22:00:10Z")
Are the coins for sale on ebay real cheap now? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/375 "2018-05-24T22:12:06Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s because Trump [personally dictated every word of the letter.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389269-trump-dictated-every-word-of-letter-canceling-north-korea-summit) The utter, embarrassing cluelessness that permeates that whole administration is endlessly amusing. I can imagine asking the aforementioned White House official, “are you sure he dictated every word?” And the official replying, “Oh, yes, every word is his own”. And then, if the official happened to have a few more brain cells than the rest of them, he might detect a kind of stunned silence that seemed to regard this as a shameless confession of historic proportions, and he might ask, “Why, was there something wrong with it?” 😃 Meanwhile Trump, basking in the Dunning–Kruger effect like a warm bath of numbing ignorance, probably imagines this to be the most brilliant diplomatic missive ever dispatched in the history of the USA. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/376 "2018-05-24T22:41:46Z")
You misspelled “in the history of diplomatic missives.” ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/377 "2018-05-24T22:42:26Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/378 "2018-05-24T22:53:34Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Meanwhile Trump, basking in the Dunning–Kruger effect like a warm bath of numbing ignorance, probably imagines this to be the most brilliant diplomatic missive ever dispatched in the history of the USA. Exactly. Basically it looks like Trump thought that the only difference between the [4th grade reading level](http://www.newsweek.com/trump-fire-and-fury-smart-genius-obama-774169)that he normally uses and the highfalutin language of diplomats is that they use bigger words like “irrelevant” and “negotiations” and “dialogue”, and that they sometimes use an unusual word order, so as long as he does this, his writing is just as good as theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/379 "2018-05-24T22:55:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s because Trump [personally dictated every word of the letter.](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/389269-trump-dictated-every-word-of-letter-canceling-north-korea-summit) On the positive side, by dictating it, he got all the words spelled correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2018, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829/380 "2018-05-24T22:58:26Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Basically it looks like Trump thought that the only difference between the [4th grade reading level](http://www.newsweek.com/trump-fire-and-fury-smart-genius-obama-774169)that he normally uses and the highfalutin language of diplomats is that they use bigger words like “irrelevant” and “negotiations” and “dialogue”, and that they sometimes use an unusual word order, so as long as he does this, his writing is just as good as theirs. We’ve elected [Oswald Bates](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAguP-zY2AA). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/north-korea-suspending-missile-testing-and-closing-nuclear-site-trump-the-statesman/812829.md?page=20)