Denuclearization will not happen immediately in North Korea, Gen. Michael Hayden, a former CIA director, said Friday.
"These guys aren't going to zero for a very, very long time," Hayden said on the podcast "The Takeout," CBS News reported.
Hayden, who served in the U.S. Air Force for four decades, said that President Donald Trump is making positive steps in the talks with North Korea over removing nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
He said that a good result coming out of the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be "ceremonial things."
"A good deal, a good meeting — everyone smiles, everyone shakes hands, everyone agrees in principle, and then you let the pros go start the negotiations," Hayden said.
He said that he would not blame Trump if talks with Kim fell through. "When you start at the chief executive level, and if it doesn't go well, there are very few visible off-ramps other than getting real tough," Hayden said.
"To be fair, this is high-risk, high-reward," the general added.
The former CIA director has been a critic of the president, including on April 30, when he commented that Trump is the only president "for whom objective reality doesn't seem to be compelling."
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