While President Trump is often criticized in the media for his excessive bellicosity on certain issues, he is never quite so roundly and universally condemned by mainstream outlets as when he’s talking peace. That fact was underscored today, when he told Bloomberg News he would “be honored” to meet North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.
Despite Trump offering several qualifiers about talks if “appropriate” and “under the right circumstances,” which suggest it almost certainly will never happen at all, was loudly panned. Indeed, many outlets that offered at most tepid reporting of international concern Trump was about to attack North Korea were quick to lash out at the very idea of diplomacy.
That Trump seems to have at least backed away from his threats to attack a little bit is a relief to many, and the possibility of the US moving away from launching a major regional war and toward direct diplomacy should be a reason for applause, even if it is clearly very much a long shot.