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President Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Lawmakers

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Two Norwegian lawmakers have nominated President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and reaching an agreement to work toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Christian Tybring-Gjedde and Per-Willy Amundsen are members of Norway’s governing Progress Party and nominated the U.S. president the day after the Singapore summit, according to the Norwegian government-owned broadcaster NRK.

“What’s going on now is historic,” Per-Willy told NRK, according to Bloomberg. “A process is underway to ensure world peace in the future. It’s a fragile process, but we must of course do what we can to help this process bring good results.”

The lawmakers also told Norwegian news agency NTB that Trump “had taken a huge and important step in the direction of the disarmament, peace and reconciliation between North and South Korea,” The Associated Press reported.

Since the deadline for nominations for this year’s prize has already passed, Trump’s nomination will make him eligible for next year.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee — a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian parliament who award the Nobel Peace Prize — receives hundreds of nominations to consider for the prize every year. This year, a record 330 people were nominated, according to Bloomberg.

This is not the first time that Trump has been nominated for the prize as a result of his efforts to bring peace to the Korean peninsula.

In April, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said that Trump deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in bringing about the denuclearization talks on the Korean peninsula and the possibility of an official end to decades-long war between North and South.

“President Trump should win the Nobel Peace Prize,” Moon is said to have told a meeting of senior secretaries, according to a Korean official who briefed the media. “What we need is only peace.”

Following the South Korean president’s informal nomination, a group of 18 Republican members of Congress signed their names to a letter formally nominating Trump for the prize in May.

The letter was sent by Rep. Luke Messer of Indiana to the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Wednesday and signed on to by 17 other House GOP members, including Reps. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Diane Black and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, and Steve King of Iowa to name some.

In the letter, the lawmakers commend Trump for working “tirelessly to apply maximum pressure on North Korea to end its illicit weapons program and bring peace to the region.”

“His Administration successfully united the international community, including China, to impose one of the most international sanctions regimes in history,” which “have been largely credited for bringing North Korea to the negotiating table,” they said.

After roughly five hours of talks between Trump and Kim in Singapore on Tuesday, the two leaders emerged from the summit with an agreement that includes the “complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”

“President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” read the preamble of the document, according to the New York Post.

The two countries also agreed to work toward “peace and prosperity,” a “stable peace” on the peninsula, to work “toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” and to commit to “recovering POW/MIA remains including the immediate reparations of those already identified.”

Trump acknowledged that denuclearization won’t happen overnight, but said, “Once you start the process it means it’s pretty much over.” (For more from the author of “President Trump Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize by Norwegian Lawmakers” please click HERE)

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Hilarious: Watch as Trump Makes Fat Joke at Summit, Kim Is Not Amused

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By Conservative Tribune. . .Whatever comes from President Donald Trump’s summit in Singapore this week with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, history is likely to remember it standing out for one reason at least:

A fat joke told by the president of the United States, and the expressionless reception it got from his rotund negotiating partner.

The joke came up as Trump and Kim were about to be seated for lunch on Tuesday, according to USA Today.

Trump watched as the assembled media angled for the best view to record the historic occasion, then he dropped a signature Trump line.

(Read more from “Hilarious: Watch as Trump Makes Fat Joke at Summit, Kim Is Not Amused” HERE)

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Fat Joke? Make Us Look ‘Nice and Thin,’ Trump Tells Photographers as Kim Looks on

By USA Today. . .Our interpretation of Kim’s facial expression and body language? Let’s say he wasn’t bursting with pleasure.

The video went viral with Twitter commentators comparing the episode to an awkward scene from “The Office.”

“Kim’s reaction to Donald Trump’s joke is the best thing you will see all day today,” quipped another.

(Read more from “Fat Joke? Make Us Look ‘Nice and Thin,’ Trump Tells Photographers as Kim Looks on” HERE)

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Here’s the Bombshell Video Trump Was Sure to Play for Kim During Their Meeting

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By Townhall. As part of his effort to get dictator Kim Jong Un to agree to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Trump showed him a video that presented all the possibilities for North Korea’s future if sanctions come off.

In addition to the benefits economic development and innovative technologies would bring to the Hermit Kingdom, Trump also emphasized what developing the country’s beaches could do for the nation.

“They have great beaches! You see that whenever they’re exploding the cannons into the ocean, right?” Trump said after playing the four-minute video for the press.

“So I said, ‘Boy, look at that beach. Wouldn’t that make a great condo behind’ – and I explained it,” the real estate mogul said.

“I said, ‘Instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there.’ Think of it from a real estate perspective.”

(Read more from “Here’s the Important Video Trump Played for Kim During Their Meeting” HERE)

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Trump in Surprise Summit Move Says He Will Halt Korea War Games

By Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump made a stunning concession to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday about halting military exercises, pulling a surprise at a summit that baffled allies, military officials and lawmakers from his own Republican Party.

At a news conference after the historic meeting with Kim in Singapore, Trump announced he would halt what he called “very provocative” and expensive regular military exercises that the United States stages with South Korea.

That was sure to rattle close allies South Korea and Japan.

North Korea has long sought an end to the war games.

Trump and Kim promised in a joint statement to work toward the “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula, and the United States promised its Cold War foe security guarantees. But they offered few specifics. (Read more from “Trump in Surprise Summit Move Says He Will Halt Korea War Games” HERE)

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Shanghai Summit May Prove More Important Than the Trump-Kim Meeting

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Overshadowed in the U.S. media by the Singapore meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the 2018 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, held in Qingdoa, China on June 9–10, may have far greater strategic significance.

Established in 2001, the SCO is a Eurasian political, economic, and security organization, which now has eight member states; China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and India. Aspiring member states include; Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, Mongolia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

In his opening remarks, chairman of the meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping offered several specific proposals reflecting China’s strategic objectives.

First, President Xi recommended that Eurasian countries focus on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “to build a powerful engine to achieve common development and prosperity.” It is understandable why he would do so.

BRI is China’s blueprint for global dominance is a development plan: a program of infrastructure projects and a network of commercial agreements designed to link the world directly to the Chinese economy through inter-connected land-based and maritime routes. The area initially targeted by Beijing, Eurasia, represents two-thirds of the world’s population and one-half of the worldwide Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

BRI is soft power projection with an underlying hard power component: a comprehensive China-centered economic, financial and geopolitical web with far-reaching, cascading consequences affecting American national interests. It is not just resource acquisition or utilization of China’s industrial over-capacity, but its projects are specifically designed to ensure economic and, eventually, military dominance.

The linchpin of BRI is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the backbone of which is a transportation route that connects China to the Pakistani ports of Gwadar and Karachi on the Arabian Sea. It is why China’s “all-weather ally”, Pakistan, has been dutifully working to hasten U.S. exit from Afghanistan through its support of the Taliban and the Haqqani network, as well as maintaining Pakistan’s stranglehold on the supply of our troops to landlocked Afghanistan.

Second, in order to “facilitate peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan,” President Xi said, “we need to give full play to the role of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group,” which recently held a meeting in Beijing including Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group will likely become the vehicle to remove the U.S. from Afghanistan.

Third, President Xi emphasized the need “to expand partnership networks of international cooperation,” particularly “by engaging in dialogue with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and other international financial institutions.“

Not only was the IMF present at this year’s SCO Summit, but it was the first time the World Bank was seated with the inner circle of SCO members. In addition, China offered to extend its “debt trap” practice by announcing an additional $4.7 billion in potential loans through the SCO Inter-bank Consortium. No doubt additional cash will be needed by BRI countries like Pakistan, which devalued its currency for the third time since December and could explain the presence of the IMF and the World Bank at the SCO Summit. International financial institutions may provide supplementary monetary resources to support China’s global ambitions.

In contrast, it would be surprising if anything comparably significant arose from the Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore. Since before the Korean War, North Korea has had the same two objectives: survival of the regime and reunification of the Korean peninsula under North Korean rule. It is difficult to imagine any major U.S. proposal not ultimately contributing to the extinction of North Korea and the Kim dynasty.

Only time will tell, but the U.S. may again become the victim of North Korean subterfuge, while its mentor, China, quietly orchestrates a major strategic shift. (For more from the author of “Shanghai Summit May Prove More Important Than the Trump-Kim Meeting” please click HERE)

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D., is a retired U.S. Army Reserve colonel, an IT command and control subject matter expert, and a veteran of Afghanistan, northern Iraq and a humanitarian mission to West Africa. He receives email at [email protected].

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Flashback: Clinton Administration Suspended Joint Military Training With South Korea

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By The Daily Caller. President Donald Trump isn’t the first president to call off joint military exercises with South Korea in order to appease North Korea.

The Clinton administration deferred a U.S.-South Korea military exercise to persuade North Korea to allow inspection of its nuclear facilities in April 1994.

“We believe it is critical that that operation by supervised (by the International Atomic Agency),” former Secretary of Defense William Perry told reporters of monitoring North Korea’s nuclear development on April 21, 1994.

North Korea signed an agreement stating it would “freeze nuclear activities, renounce any ambition to become a nuclear power, and open up to secret military sites to inspection” in October 1994.

“We have neither the intention nor the plan to develop nuclear weapons,” North Korean negotiator Kang Sok Ju told The New York Times in October 1994.

(Read more from “Flashback: Clinton Administration Suspended Joint Military Training With South Korea” HERE)

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Backlash After Bill Clinton Notes Changing ‘Norms’ About ‘What You Can Do to Somebody Against Their Will’

By Fox News. Former President Bill Clinton, in a recent discussion with PBS about former Senator Al Franken, noted changing “norms” about “what you can do to somebody against their will.”

Clinton, who has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct dating back decades, said he thought it was a “good thing that we should all have higher standards.”

Franken, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, resigned from office in 2017 following multiple claims of sexual misconduct and a backlash from some Democrats.

“I think the norms have really changed in terms of, what you can do to somebody against their will, how much you can crowd their space, make them miserable at work,” Clinton said, according to a clip posted by RealClearPolitics. “You don’t have to physically assault somebody to make them, you know, uncomfortable at work or at home or in their other — just walking around. That, I think, is good.”

The comments were met with wide criticism. (Read more from “Backlash After Bill Clinton Notes Changing ‘Norms’ About ‘What You Can Do to Somebody Against Their Will'” HERE)

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Time Reporter’s Insulting Question Backfires, Leads to Trump Giving Best Line of the Whole Historic Event

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President Donald Trump shut down an anti-Trump naysayer from Time magazine at the press conference he held shortly after negotiating North Korea’s “complete denuclearization” agreement.

The reporter asked if Trump now considered Kim Jong Un his equal because POTUS had shown him a video of how the dictator’s country could look with future peace and prosperity. Confusing question? Ridiculous, actually, but President Trump responded with one of the most powerful statements to date about the historic event.

“If I have to say I’m sitting on a stage with Chairman Kim and that’s going to get us to save 30 million lives — maybe more than that — I’m willing to sit on the stage,” President Trump said. “I’m willing to travel to Singapore very proudly, very gladly.”

The liberal media is already trying to marginalize President Trump’s historic victory in bringing the reclusive North Korean dictator to the negotiating table by saying Kim “already won” by having a photo-op with a sitting United States president. . .

He explained: “If I can save millions of lives by coming here, sitting down, and establishing a relationship with someone who’s a very powerful man — who’s got firm control of a country and that country has very powerful nuclear weapons — it’s my honor to do it.”

(Read more from “Time Reporter’s Insulting Question Backfires, Leads to Trump Giving Best Line of the Whole Historic Event” HERE)

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Pelosi, Schumer Criticize North Korea Summit

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House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) criticized President Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un Tuesday, claiming the meeting legitimized Kim’s brutal regime without establishing a real path to denuclearization.

“Apparently, the President handed Kim Jong-un concessions in exchange for vague promises that do not approach a clear and comprehensive pathway to denuclearization and non-proliferation,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“In his haste to reach an agreement, President Trump elevated North Korea to the level of the United States while preserving the regime’s status quo,” she added. “The millions of families currently living in fear of nuclear weapons in the region deserve strong and smart leadership built on diplomacy and engagement with our regional partners and allies.”

Schumer spoke on the Senate floor about his concerns with the agreement that was signed at the summit.

“This communique lists denuclearization as a far off goal, but includes no deal to a pathway to achieve it,” he argued. “No details about how the United States might verify that North Korea has disarmed when they repeatedly lied in the past. The entire document is short on details.” (Read more from “Pelosi, Schumer Criticize North Korea Summit” HERE)

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Trump Praises Relationship With Kim Jong Un, Makes History

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By ABC News. President Donald Trump lavished praise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after their historic four and a half hour face-to-face meeting in Singapore Tuesday, where the two signed an unspecified agreement that the president described as “pretty comprehensive.”

“A very worthy, smart negotiator, absolutely,” Trump told reporters while standing alongside Kim. “We learned a lot about each other and our countries.” . . .

“Today we had a historic meeting and decided to leave the past behind and we are about to sign a historic document,” Kim said. “The world will see a major change. I would like to express my gratitude to President Trump to make this meeting happen.”

“I feel really great,” Trump said. “We’re going to have a great discussion, I think, a tremendous success, this will be tremendously successful. It’s my honor and we will have a terrific relationship I have no doubt.” . . .

“It was not an easy path here,” Kim said. “There’s a history of holding onto our ankles, and it appeared there were times that there were unfortunate practices where they were trying to block our eyes and our ears, but we’ve overcome everything and come to this place.”

(Read more from “Trump Praises Relationship With Kim Jong Un, Makes History” HERE)

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U.S. Demands Japan Reduce Its Plutonium Stockpiles

By Nikkei Asian Review. The U.S. has called on Japan to reduce its high levels of stockpiled plutonium, a move that comes as the Trump administration seeks to convince North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, Nikkei has learned.

The request was made by the U.S. Department of State and National Security Council ahead of next month’s extension of a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement, according to people familiar with the matter.

Japan has about 47 tons of the radioactive element — enough to produce around 6,000 nuclear warheads. Foreign and domestic critics have pointed to these reserves as a ready source of bomb-making material should Japan choose to become a nuclear weapons state.

Plutonium production is banned in principle, but energy-poor Japan has been allowed to extract the material from spent nuclear fuel rods under the bilateral pact.

Japan insists that it does not maintain plutonium reserves “without specified purposes.” Critics in Japan and elsewhere, including China and some in the U.S. Congress, have expressed concern about the size of these stockpiles. (Read more from “U.S. Demands Japan Reduce Its Plutonium Stockpiles” HERE)

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Dennis Rodman Sheds Tears Over North Korean Summit, Says Obama Would Not Recognize His Efforts

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By The Daily Caller. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman shed tears over the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump in Singapore Tuesday, saying that former President Obama would not give him the time of day with his diplomatic efforts.

Rodman described how he had received death threats and how he “couldn’t even go home” after meeting with Kim in 2014, but that he continued to hope that North Korea would change. He also said he knew the meeting between Trump and Kim would be prolific. (Read more from “Dennis Rodman Sheds Tears Over North Korean Summit, Says Obama Would Not Recognize His Efforts” HERE)

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Weeping Dennis Rodman Praises Trump’s Meeting With Friend Kim Jong Un, Blasts Obama for Ignoring Him

By Fox News. Dennis Rodman, the former NBA star and longtime friend of Kim Jong Un who has visited North Korea several times, broke down in tears during a televised interview early Tuesday as President Trump and Kim held a historic meeting in a hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island.

In a dramatic interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo that quickly became emotionally charged, Rodman, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, blasted former President Barack Obama for not taking the North Korean leader seriously.

Five years ago, Rodman said, Kim told Rodman “certain things” to relay to Obama concerning potential negotiations, but the former president “didn’t even give me the time of day — he just brushed me off, but that didn’t deter me.”

Rodman, who admitted he was “naive” when he first visited the rogue regime, then started weeping and repeatedly dabbed away tears from his eyes as he recounted the blowback he received in the U.S. for visiting Kim.

(Read more from “Weeping Dennis Rodman Praises Trump’s Meeting With Friend Kim Jong Un, Blasts Obama for Ignoring Him” HERE)

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Trump Has an Appetite for Seeing McDonald’s Come to North Korea

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By Washington Examiner. . .A source told Axios that Trump is in favor of well-known American staples coming to North Korea, including McDonald’s, as he seeks to have the rogue nation open up to the world. Such cooperation hinges on a historic meeting Trump has planned for Tuesday in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. . .

Chung-in Moon, a special adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in, told CNN International that the North is looking to become a “normal state” recognized by the U.S. and “welcome American sponsors and multilateral consortiums coming into North Korea.”

He mentioned McDonald’s, along with a Trump-branded building, as examples of what a “modern” North Korea would look like, according to Daily Mail.

Any such private American investments would require the U.S. to lift sanctions placed on North Korea. (Read more from “Trump Has an Appetite for Seeing Mcdonald’s Come to North Korea” HERE)

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Trump Kim Summit: North Korea Sets out Its Singapore Agenda

By BBC. North Korean state media has raised the possibility Pyongyang could “establish a new relationship” with the US.

It comes a day before North Korean leader Kim Jong-un holds historic talks with US President Donald Trump.

The comments are a marked shift in tone from the isolated country after decades of animosity towards the US.

Both leaders arrived in Singapore on Sunday evening. Mr Trump has said he has a “good feeling” about their much-anticipated summit.

He tweeted on Monday morning that there was “excitement in the air” in Singapore. (Read more from “Trump Kim Summit: North Korea Sets out Its Singapore Agenda” HERE)

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