Posted on 08/13/2017 3:42:45 PM PDT by jazusamo
President Trump is in front of the rhetorical brinkmanship with North Korea, but it’s Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson who has the tough behind-the-scenes role of managing fallout from the administration’s first genuine international crisis, sparked by reports that Pyongyang may now have a nuclear bomb small enough to fit on a missile that could hit the U.S. mainland.
The standoff is a defining moment for America’s top diplomat six months into his tenure at Foggy Bottom. Meanwhile, many key leadership posts — including ambassador to South Korea — remain unfilled, fears of budget cuts and reorganizations are high, and questions swirl over how much clout the former Exxon Mobil chief has with the president.
But Mr. Tillerson, who has been criticized from the left and scrutinized from right over speculation that he is not on message with Mr. Trump, has built a reputation for cool nonchalance under pressure that supporters say is exactly what is needed to provide a foundation of calm behind a president bent on confronting North Korea.
However, nobody said it was going to be easy. Take last week: It began with Mr. Tillerson in East Asia privately celebrating how he and U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley had pulled off the surprise triumph of getting a unanimous United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution with the most severe sanctions package ever against North Korea.
By Tuesday, however, the whole idea of diplomacy with Pyongyang was turned on its head when Mr. Trump made international headlines by vowing to meet any future threats from the regime of Kim Jong-un with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.”
What came next was as good an example as any of Mr. Tillerson’s delicate role, State Department watchers say.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
These clowns just don’t get it. President Trump is trying to make sure that lil Kim knows this is not the wimp Obama regime in power. I would not be surprised to learn that Obama was paying off lil Kim through back channels.
Yep, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything 0bama does to undermine our country.
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