President Trump on Thursday hailed the success of improved U.S. relations with North Korea, and a new poll showed that a majority of Americans agree with him.
The poll by Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found 55 percent of Americans approve of Mr. Trump’s diplomacy with North Korea, up from 42 percent in March and scoring his highest rating yet on any individual issue in the poll.
The polling data bucks widespread criticism in the U.S. of the lack of details in the accord Mr. Trump reached with North Korea leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last week, as well as growing impatience for tangible evidence that Pyongyang plans to dismantle its nuclear arsenal.
At a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Mr. Trump vouched for quick progress being made on the denuclearization deal and predicted “tremendous success.”
“We’ve had some very good news even over the last couple of days. They want to get it done, we want to get it done, and we are moving quickly,” Mr. Trump said at a Cabinet meeting.
The White House declined to specify what he meant or even describe the nature of the “very good news.”
Mr. Trump said the foundations of the agreement reached last week in Singapore were already benefiting East Asia and the world, including Pyongyang halting nuke tests and missiles tests and destroying nuclear weapons test sites.
But the most important development, he said, is the new strong relationship between the U.S. and North Korea that he forged at the summit with Mr. Kim.
The praise for Mr. Trump’s diplomacy included a large share of Democrats and others who disapprove in general of his presidency.
“I hate to give Donald Trump any credit, but the fact is he was able to sit down with the man and possibly get the volume of that threat turned down significantly,” Susan Leo, 66, a retired minister from Santa Cruz, California, who supported Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president, told the pollsters.
It didn’t change her overall opinion of Mr. Trump’s presidency, which she called “a nightmare.”
“There’s absolutely no integrity in his life and in his presidency overall,” added Ms. Leo.
Most Americans also don’t trust Mr. Kim to keep his end of the bargain.
A majority — 52 percent — said they have little to no confidence that negotiations with Mr. Kim will lead to North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons, compared to 12 percent who said they are very or extremely confident.
Republicans were skeptical too. Just 25 percent of GOP voters said they were very confident North Korea would eventually agree to a deal that actually dismantles the nuclear bombs and nuclear weapons facilities.
More than a week after the summit, there is no sign that North Korea is following through on its commitments other than maintaining the ban on nuclear and missile tests.
That is causing heartburn from the halls of Congress all the way to the Blue House in Seoul.
At the summit, Mr. Kim promised to destroy the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground. But so far satellite images show no action at the site.
Mr. Kim also pledged to return the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
“They’ve already sent back or are in the process of sending back the remains of our great heroes who died in North Korea during the war. And that’s already in the process of coming back,” Mr. Trump said at the Cabinet meeting.
Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who was at the meeting, told reporters a day earlier that discussion on returning MIAs were ongoing and he didn’t have anything else to report.
Still, Mr. Trump was upbeat about the progress and the positive reaction to the summit.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe congratulated him for the “incredible” summit, said the president.
“He was so thrilled. He doesn’t have rockets going over Japan. That makes him very happy generally,” said Mr. Trump, referring to North Korean missile test over Japan late last year.
Mr. Trump said that U.S.-North Korea relations were a work in process but that they were currently in a good place.
“Things can change. Personalities can change. Maybe you end up with conflict, maybe you don’t,” he said. “But the relationship that [we] have with Chairman Kim and his group is a very good one, a very strong one, and I think it is going to lead to tremendous success.”
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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