Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a staunch advocate of a strong U.S. military but who didn't vote for Donald Trump as president, is blaming China for the apparent collapse of the administration's effort to coerce North Korea into "denuclearization."
Graham said he sees "China's hands all over" North Korea's condemning talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as "regrettable" and "gangster-like" because of Trump's trade war against China that became official on July 6.
"We're in a fight with China," said Graham, who once served as a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. "We buy $500 billion worth of goods from the Chinese. They buy $100 billion from us. They cheat. President Trump wants to change the economic relationship with China."
Graham also warned China about escalating a trade war with the U.S., saying American "more bullets," referring to the larger amount of trade the U.S. does with China. The U.S. imposed 25 percent tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods last Friday. China immediately responded by slapping taxes worth 25 percent on $34 billion worth of U.S. goods.
Graham said Trump knows the U.S. can hurt China more than China can hurt the U.S. in a trade war. And Graham supports Trump's demand that China stops cheating when it comes to trade.
Graham also took a swipe at North Korea, saying the U.S. has more powerful weapons than sanctions (i.e. the military) to keep the rogue regime in line - if this becomes necessary.
Pompeo returned to Washington over the weekend from a fruitless two-day trip to North Korea where he was snubbed by dictator Kim Jong-un and had to console himself with a face-to-face with former General Kim Yong Chol, the former director of the Reconnaissance General Bureau (the country's intelligence service).
Pompeo returned home bragging "we made progress on almost all of the central issues" before leaving Pyongyang for Washington. While he was airborne, however, North Korean state-run media blasted Pompeo for his bullying tactics.
It also said Pompeo pushed a "unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization" over two days of talks in Pyongyang. North Korea derided the denuclearization talks with Pompeo as "regrettable."
As a result of Pompeo's Trumpian bullying, North Korea announced to the world it might now waver in its "firm, steadfast" resolution to abandon its nuclear program.
Pompeo hasn't revealed what Kim understands the word denuclearization to mean. The declaration signed by both leaders in Singapore spoke about denuclearizing the entire Korean peninsula, which seems to mean including U.S. nuclear weapons in the deal. Trump, however, continues to falsely claim the document says denuclearizing North Korea when in fact it doesn't.
