President Trump’s agenda had some high points but it also had some low ones. A big breakthrough for the President was with the upcoming North Korea summit.
It was announced that the location was Singapore and would be held on June 12, 2019. Trump was expecting Kim Jong-un to denuclearize and hoped the meeting would be fruitful.
However he had withdrawn from the nuclear pact between Iran and a few other Countries. This move was seen as a mistake and many felt it would give Iran an opportunity to make more weapons or buy them.
Most worrying was the fact that shortly after the U.S. withdrew from the deal, Iran fire upon Israel.
Israel retaliated by firing back on Iran, which now could escalate into a war.
Sanctions
The United States of America imposed sanctions on Iran days after the attacks. The Treasury Dept. cited that there were some individuals and companies supporting Iran.
“The Iranian regime and its central bank have abused access to entities in the UAE to acquire U.S. dollars to fund the IRGC-QF’s malign activities, including to fund and arm its regional proxy groups, by concealing the purpose for which the U.S. dollars were acquired,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
It was unclear if Trump had a plan by leaving the deal and helping to add fuel to an already tense Middle East.
If Trump could find a way to get through to Kim, maybe he had a way of getting through to Iran.
However until such an event became evident it was worrisome to say the least.
Singapore Summit
The summit scheduled for next month was expected to be unprecedented. It was the first time that the two Nations would meet to discuss international affairs together.
“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” Trump wrote.
The U.S. President hoped that the summit would prove to be the change needed between the two Countries and bring about peace.
“I think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful,” Trump said. “My proudest achievement will be – this is part of it – when we denuclearize that entire peninsula.”
The administration made it clear that they wouldn’t be taking the summit likely.
“We’re not under any illusions about who these people are,” National Security Council official Victoria Coates told reporters. “We know who we’re dealing with here. But we got up front our people home rather than that having been an afterthought.”
Grenell’s Slip
His administration wasn’t without fault as it created ripples in Germany. An U.S. Ambassador recently chosen by Trump offended Germans by what he said.
This didn’t help the fact that Germany was disappointed that the U.S. pulled out of the Iran deal of which they are a part.
Richard Grenell tweeted “German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”
“It’s not my task to teach people about the fine art of diplomacy, especially not the U.S. ambassador. But he does appear to need some tutoring,” said Andrea Nahles.
Nahles, the leader of Germany’s Social Democratic party wasn’t pleased by the statement.
“This man was accredited as ambassador only yesterday. To give German businesses such orders … that’s just not how you can treat your allies,” Jean Asselborn said.
Asselborn, Luxemburg’s Foreign Minister said called Grenell’s action impertinent.