Is Trump making himself irrelevant on North Korea?

There was no shortage of major foreign policy crises to choose from in 2017, but the rapid escalation of tensions with North Korea — and the threat of nuclear war behind them — stood out from the rest. It's also one into which President Trump, an iconoclastic leader who disdains diplomacy and styles himself both a businessman and a brawler, has thrown himself with abandon.

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There is plenty of suspicion that North Korea's willingness to talk is simply meant to drive the wedge even further between South Korea and the United States. But some experts do see hope. Robert Carlin and Joel Wit, both former U.S. negotiators on North Korea, wrote for 38 North that there are a number of reasons to believe Pyongyang is “very serious” in its push for talks. Others, such as former Treasury Department official Anthony Ruggiero, suggest that the United States has given up too much by delaying the joint exercise.

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