Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Tuesday it was "good news for diplomacy" that CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of planned talks with President Donald Trump — but warned the summit will not be easy.
In an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the California lawmaker — a frequent critic of Trump — said the secret meeting between Pompeo and Kim over Easter "looks like preparations into real talks between our president and the leader of North Korea . . . it looks like it's going to take place."
"It is good news for diplomacy, and I'm glad that the meeting took place," he said, adding, however:
"The challenge is this is a very high-stakes endeavor when you start out with a summit of the top leadership. If the president finds that his winning personality doesn't cause North Korea to denuclearize overnight, does that mean the president is going to conclude, 'OK, this was a waste of time. It's time to use the military option?'"
"I hope our administration understands this is a long-term difficult endeavor, negotiating with the North Koreans. If it was easy, it would have been done successfully before and it hasn't," he said.
He said he is not ready to give credit to Trump until "we . . . see whether this bears fruit."
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