President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of a planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was one that plays into his "strong suite," Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Thursday.
"He knows how to make a deal," Dershowitz told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" co-host Bill Hemmer, minutes after the president's letter withdrawing from the Singapore event was revealed.
"He knows how to walk away from the table, he knows how to offer to come back to the table," Dershowitz said. "I'm certainly not going to second guess our president when it comes to negotiating with North Korea. I don't think he had any choice."
In his letter to Kim, Trump said he was pulling from the summit "based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement."
The two leaders' meeting would have been the first time a U.S. and North Korean leader had been held face-to-face.
On Wednesday, a North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs called Vice President Mike Pence a "political dummy" after his comments on May 21 comparing North Korea to Libya, whose leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was slaughtered by rebel forces after he agreed to give up nuclear weapons in his own country.
People familiar with the situation told CNN that Trump and his aides were angered by the statement against Pence, and wished to issue a forceful response.
"I think once he heard what the leader of North Korea said about the United States, said about our vice president, he had no choice but to walk away, but he's walked away in a conditional sense," Dershowitz said. "He said, 'I welcome you to come back but on my terms.' Remember, we have most of the cards in this negotiation, and I think the president is playing them well."
However, Dershowitz said there is no question that both sides continue to negotiate.
"Whether this ends up with a meeting or not, I don't think anybody can know," he said, "but we can't have our president meet with somebody who said the kinds of things he has said and threatened the United States with nuclear weapons. I think there has to be a toning down of the rhetoric on their side before a productive meeting."
Hemmer pointed out that in recent weeks, there have been several "good faith" moves by North Korea, including the release of three American prisoners, and through inviting Secretary of State Mike Pompeo twice to Pyongyang.
"When Robert Kennedy had to negotiate with the Soviet Union over Cuba, he said 'don't listen to what they say, watch what they do,'" Dershowitz said. "What they've done in North Korea has been positive - release of the hostages. … What they've said is terrible.
"We have a president saying in response to their saying but still keeping open the option of having the meeting. So if I have to make a long-term prediction, I would predict we have the meeting on somewhat better terms."
Dershowitz also said that one must consider Trump's decision to pull out of the Iranian nuclear deal.
"When he says something, he means it," said Dershowitz. "When he pulled out of the Iran deal. He is ready to renegotiate the Iran deal. These are somewhat similar in many respects."
He also pointed out that North Korea has not yet shown the world that it can send a missile to the shores of the United States.
"They already have developed their nuclear weapon," he said. "They don't need to test the nuclear weapon as much as they need to test the delivery system."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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