With President Trump on his way back home after the failed denuclearization negotiations with North Korea, Thursday’s edition of ABC’s World News Tonight decided to take some swings at the President for not getting a deal. It was a head-scratching complaint since many in the liberal media spent the last few days clutching their pearls in fear of Trump giving away too much because of his flattery toward North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.
“And good evening tonight from Hanoi, where we witnessed the abrupt collapse of talks today between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un,” anchor David Muir enthusiastically announced at the top of the program.
Parroting the Presidents “critics,” Muir wondered, “Why did he put Kim Jong-un back on the world stage, allowing him to sit across from an American president without knowing what was going to happen?”
Just before handing the report off to chief White House correspondent Jon Karl, Muir hyped the actions of North Korea in the wake of the negotiations falling apart: “And tonight, the North Koreans, just a short time ago, taking on the President with their own version of what happened here.” Yup, that’s an American news outlet hyping the actions of an adversary against our President.
Karl began his report with a dreary tone, proclaiming, “Just hours after the two leaders sat down, the high stakes summit took a dark turn. With the table already set, the formal Trump/Kim lunch abruptly canceled. Reporters hastily summoned to a news conference.”
“There had been flashes of hope,” Karl boasted. That glimmer of hope? Kim talking to a member of the American press. “The President had hoped to parlay his new friendship with Kim into a historic nuclear deal. Instead, he left Vietnam with nothing. Not even a joint statement,” he continued to bemoan.
After playing a soundbite of Trump explaining how North Korea wanted all the sanctions lifted for the dismantling of one nuclear facility, Karl quickly rebuked him with claims from North Korean officials as if they were trustworthy. “But tonight, North Korea insists that's not true. They said they only asked for some of the sanctions to be lifted,” he reported.
He added: “At a press conference, another first, two top North Korean officials told reporters that this kind of opportunity may never arise again, saying Kim Jong-un, quote, ‘May have lost the will for future dealings.’”
Of course, Karl had to paraphrase how Speaker Nancy Pelosi “said the President had been played by the North Korean dictator.” “He was the big winner, he, Kim Jong-un, in getting to sit face-to-face with the most powerful person in the world, the President of the United States,” the California Democrat chided Trump to the press.
In contrast, on NBC Nightly News, anchor Lester Holt pointed to Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine and said he “praised” Trump’s commitment to walking out. “If the President and the team there did not think we were likely to get something good, it's good that we didn't give up anything,” Kaine said in the soundbite.
CBS Evening News, on the other hand, thought it was “notable” that Trump was “not escalating tensions.”
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
February 28, 2019
6:32:00 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: And good evening tonight from Hanoi, where we witnessed the abrupt collapse of talks today between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. President Trump saying sometimes you have to walk.
Tonight, his critics asking, why did he put Kim Jong-un back on the world stage, allowing him to sit across from an American president without know what was going to happen? Before it all fell apart, there was the dinner last night, then the meeting today. The North Korean dictator even took a question from a reporter on denuclearization, something he's never done before. But a short time later, the announcement. The working lunch was canceled. The table empty. The White House revealing no agreement.
And tonight, the North Koreans, just a short time ago, taking on the president with their own version of what happened here. ABC's chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl here in Hanoi.
[Cuts to video]
JON KARL: Just hours after the two leaders sat down, the high stakes summit took a dark turn. With the table already set, the formal Trump/Kim lunch abruptly canceled. Reporters hastily summoned to a news conference.
DONALD TRUMP: Sometimes you have to walk and this was just one of those times.
KARL: There had been flashes of hope. Kim Jong-un even took questions from the western press, a first for a North Korean dictator.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Chairman Kim, are you ready to denuclearize?
KIM JONG-UN (via translator): If I'm not willing to do that, I won't be here right now.
TRUMP: Good answer. Wow. That be the best answer you've ever heard.
KARL: The President had hoped to parlay his new friendship with Kim into an historic nuclear deal. Instead, he left Vietnam with nothing. Not even a joint statement.
TRUMP: He's quite a guy and quite a character, and I think our relationship is very strong. But at this time, we had some options, and at this time, we decided not to do any of the options.
KARL: The President said Kim simply demanded too much. Lifting all sanctions in exchange for dismantling North Korea's largest and most important nuclear facility, but not shuttering the entire nuclear program.
TRUMP: Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that.
KARL: But tonight, North Korea insists that's not true. They said they only asked for some of the sanctions to be lifted. At a press conference, another first, two top North Korean officials told reporters that this kind of opportunity may never arise again, saying Kim Jong-un, quote, "May have lost the will for future dealings." Back in Washington, Nancy Pelosi said the President had been played by the North Korean dictator.
NANCY PELOSI: He was the big winner, he, Kim Jong-un, in getting to sit face-to-face with the most powerful person in the world, the president of the United States.
(…)
