Rep. Ted Lieu, normally an outspoken critic of President Trump, called the trending #TrumpFail hashtag “inappropriate” following the president’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The California Democrat tweeted Thursday that despite citizens’ views on the president, Americans should “want America to succeed.”
“The hashtag #TrumpFail is trending and I find it inappropriate,” Mr. Lieu wrote. “People should not be hoping the President fails or taking pleasure in his failure on the global stage. Whether you like [Mr. Trump] or not, he represents America in foreign affairs.”
Mr. Trump’s second denuclearization summit with Mr. Kim fell apart Thursday in a dispute over lifting economic sanctions, cutting short two days of talks aimed at dismantling Pyongyang’s weapons program.
After several hours of discussions, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim abruptly parted ways over North Korea’s demand that the U.S. lift crushing sanctions in exchange for something less than the full dismantling of all Pyongyang’s weapons sites.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn’t do that,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference in Hanoi. “They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we want, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that.”
Mr. Lieu has made himself known as a staunch critic of the president, to the point that his Twitter cover photo is a side-by-side comparison of former President Barack Obama’s and Mr. Trump’s inaugurations showing a larger crowd at Mr. Obama’s in 2009.
However, Mr. Lieu has offered some backing for Mr. Trump, including the president’s call to withdraw the U.S. military from Syria.
• Bailey Vogt can be reached at bvogt@washingtontimes.com.
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