Will Donald Trump stay on script or prompt ‘white knuckles’ on his Asian trip?
‘In the past 10 months, we’ve been socialised to expect trauma from President Trump,’ says Council on Foreign Relations’ US-Korea policy expert
US President Donald Trump may prompt “white knuckles” and “held breath” among government officials in Japan and South Korea when he visits those countries, US analysts said.
“In the course of the past 10 months, we’ve been socialised to expect trauma from President Trump, and when it comes to Korea, among government officials there will be a lot of white knuckles and held breath,” Scott Snyder, senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the programme on US-Korea policy at Council on Foreign Relations, said on a media call about Trump’s upcoming Asia trip.
“They will want him to stay on script.”
Trump raised hackles in South Korea in recent months with his insulting tweets aimed at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and suggestions that the US might act preemptively to avert any military attacks by Pyongyang.
His hosts, analysts say, will be on alert for any similarly confrontational or callous behaviour regarding North Korea or other diplomatically sensitive issues because the media in Japan and South Korea is likely to ask questions about hot button issues.