Its nice to get along with someone who has a lot of nuclear weapons, he added.
It was a dovish aside during an otherwise hawkish speech.
But it captures the extraordinary transformation of Trumps public approach toNorth Korea.
Former President Donald Trump as he meets with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12, 2018.Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Time may be running out.
North Korea will use its nuclear arsenal in a surprise attack, say Carlin and Hecker.
(Other analysts have beenmore skeptical.)
Still, earlier this month, Kimthreatenedto use nuclear weapons against South Korea and the United States.
In 2017, many feared that such a war between the U.S. and North Korea was also likely.
Harsh saber-rattling against Pyongyang dominated the early Trump presidency.
Why dont we take out the whole North Korean Army during one of their parades?
asked the former president, according to the newmemoirfrom H.R.
McMaster, who served as Trumps national security adviser from February 2017 to April 2018.
Trumpreportedlyeven privately mulled dropping nuclear weapons on North Korea and somehow blaming another actor for the strike.
Soon, however, Trump made an extraordinary about-face on North Korea, at least in public.
He latersaidthat Kim had written him beautiful letters and that the two leaders had fallen in love.
(Pompeo did not respond to a request for comment.)
But when CIA paramilitaries reviewed SOCKORs plans, they were stunned, recalled a former senior CIA official.
They hadnt been updated for decades.
SOCKORplanners hadnt even ever actuallyspokenwith anyone at CIA about them.
And, to make matters worse, they were just outright ludicrous, recalled the former official.
And Im like, thats fucking dumb.
Thats actually not going to happen.
There were plans that were like, who the fuck thought this out, Wile E. Coyote?
Further conversations with top SOCKOR officials did nothing to allay CIA paramilitaries fears about their plans.
That sounds like a really bad bet.
I hope you dont go to fucking Las Vegas and spend all of your wifes money.
But these plans also had long been rendered obsolete or were simply nonsensical, said the former official.
But to some, aspects of the CIAs new Korea schemes were also outlandish.
It was, how much can a dog haul?
Can a dog carry ammo?
I think they were even asking about [night-vision] goggles for dogs.
We were like, What the fuck, do you want us to chase down vets?
The CIA declined to comment on a list of detailed questions provided byRolling Stone.
The Pentagon referred all questions to the CIA.
The agencys North Korea overhaul dovetailed with a larger, previously unreported CIA enterprise called the Expeditionary Initiative.
Orders to do so came from the top.
It is unclear to what extent the agency actually carried out its sabotage campaign against North Korean ships.
The agency also helped seize money from sanctions-busting North Korean overseas construction and fishing conglomerates.
We were pounding them, said the former official.
But Trumps favorite part of the CIAs campaign?
The CIA had helped claw back a million here and there from Pyongyang, recalled the former senior official.
The CIAs covert battle became increasingly Sisyphean.
