A longtime expert on North Korea – involved with the rogue regime since the early 1990s and a Democrat – praised President Donald Trump for bringing the United States into diplomatic talks with dictator Kim Jong Un.
"This is the best period I've seen in a long time," former U.N. Ambassador and ex-Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., told John Catsimatidis on "The Cats Roundtable" on 970 AM-N.Y.
". . . You've got to be optimistic for a change."
With this Friday's summit between Kim and South Korea's Moon Jae-in bringing about a reported end to the decades-long Korean War, Richardson says Moon's people are "breathing a little bit easier these days."
"I think for President Trump and Kim Jong Un's summit, this North Korea-South Korea meeting sets a very good tone," Richardson told host John Catsimatidis.
"The 25 million people who live in Seoul . . . breathing a little bit easier these days."
Despite the pseudo praise for the Republican president, Richardson was skeptical President Trump deserves all the credit for facilitating the summit between the Korean neighbors, saying it was China that truly led to the engagement between rival leaders, having left North Korea's economy "shattered" and "in terrible shape."
"On North Korea [the Chinese] have helped us," Richardson said. "They don't want North Korea out scaring the whole region, especially Japan and South Korea, bringing those countries into the nuclear weapon field.
"They don’t want that. I think their sanctions on North Korea are tougher than they have ever been. And they're working. I think that's one of the reasons Kim Jong Un came to the negotiating table."
It was President Trump, however, who has pressed China in myriad ways – a country he has threatened with billions in tariffs – to get them to help more with the nuclear threats in North Korea.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.