Bolton, Pompeo keep Trump from sealing North Korea deal

James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst, made the remarks in wake of Trump’s third meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the Demilitarized Zone between South Korea and the North on Sunday.

During the meeting, Trump and Kim agreed to resume denuclearization talks after a botched second meeting in Vietnam in February.

“Trump clearly wants to get discussions with Chairman Kim back on track,” Jatras said.

“I don’t know if it will be possible for him to do that,” he added, noting that both Trump and Kim were committed to finding a common ground and it helped even more that the talks were also backed by Japan and South Korea.

However, he said, Trump’s “appointees” were the real challenge the American president faced on his way towards reaching an agreement with Pyongyang.

“The problem, as is always the case here in Washington, is will Mr. Trump’s appointees support what he is trying to do or do they have their own agenda?”

He said the situation with Pyongyang was in some ways similar with Washington’s approach towards Tehran, where Trump claimed he wanted to have talks much to the dismay of Bolton and Pompeo, who have supported military action and regime change.

“The question is where can we go from here?” Jatras said. “Can he actually move his administration forward or is he in effect a prisoner of the structures here in Washington?”