Its government officials have reportedly been reaching out to American scholars and ex-officials with Republican Party ties in an effort to figure out the US President, according to a Washington Post report.
The experts contacted include Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst, and Douglas H. Paal, who was on the National Security Council under former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Both declined North Korea’s invitations, the paper says.
Their number-one question: why do Trump’s closest advisors, including Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, directly contradict him so often?
While Trump has recently threatened war and ruled out negotiations with North Korea, Mr Mattis has promised to push for diplomatic talks with the country.
“My own guess is that they are somewhat puzzled as to the direction in which the US is going, so they’re trying to open up channels to take the pulse in Washington,” a former State Department official said. “They haven’t seen the US act like this before.”
The report follows another story that Trump allegedly told his staffers to portray him as ‘crazy’ to get more out of negotiations for a free-trade deal with South Korea.
We’d say he’s doing a good enough job on his own.
