Democratic lawmakers told President Trump on Monday in advance of his summit with Kim Jong-un that they would not back a ‘bad deal’ with North Korea just to make peace with the isolated regime.
In a letter to Trump top-ranking Senate Democrats said that any agreement the U.S. makes with North Korea must be permanent and include a provisions that ban the development of ballistic missiles, in addition to nuclear weapons.
‘If President Trump meets with Kim Jong-un and receives a deal that truly lives up to these principles, he will have made the world a much safer place. But if he tries to reach a deal with Kim Jong-un, just for the sake of reaching a deal, and the agreement fails to live up to the principles we’ve laid out, then he’ll have been bested at the negotiating table yet again,’ Sen. Chuck Schumer said on a call with reporters.
Democratic lawmakers, including Chuck Schumer, warned President Trump on Monday in advance of his summit with Kim Jong-un that a ‘bad deal’ with North Korea would be unacceptable
The demands laid out by Schumer and other Democrats who signed onto the letter nearly mirror the provisions that President Trump has said must be a part of a similar agreement with Iran.
He left an international accord with Tehran last month because it did not live up to those standards.
Schumer voted against that agreement, negotiated in 2015 by the Obama administration, when it came before the Senate for many of the same reasons he says he’d oppose an agreement he deems to loose with North Korea now.
Since Trump took power, however, Schumer has changed course.
The Senate Democratic leader said that Trump should have left the Iran accord in place and given it time to work out.
He argued Monday that the Iran nuclear accord is not entirely similar to what he’s asking of Trump.
‘Iran did not have nuclear weapons or a functional ICMB [intercontinental ballistic missile]. North Korea has both,’ he said. ‘So the danger to the United States is so much the greater here. The danger to the Pacific region is so much the greater.
‘And that’s why having a really strong permanent settlement here in North Korea for agreement is so, so important.’
Schumer said on the call, ‘We very much hope that he will be able to achieve a lasting and strong agreement.’
If not, as Trump has said he will, Schumer argued that the president ‘needs to be willing to walk away’ from the negotiating table.
‘The president has talked tough when it comes to North Korea, but more important than any tweet, more important than any comment about the size of the big red button, will be the president’s willingness to stand strong and secure a strong and enduring deal.’
Schumer said that Democrats in the Senate will not provide the sanctions relief necessary to strike a deal with North Korea unless it includes a provision that says Pyongyang must dismantle or removed every single one of its weapons.
That includes ending uranium enrichments and permanently dismantling all test sites and destroying the related facilities.
North Korea must also end its ballistic missiles tests and agree to anytime, anywhere inspections.
Should Pyongyang engage in any violations of those terms, the agreement would also have to call for snap-back sanctions.
Schumer cautioned Trump not to enter an agreement that ‘fails to live up to’ the principles that he and other Senate Democrats are laying out.

The demands laid out by Schumer and other Democrats who signed onto the letter nearly mirror the provisions that President Trump has said must be a part of a similar agreement with Iran
Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey told reporters on the call that a bad deal ‘risks putting security allies at risk’ while warning that the ‘art of diplomacy harder than the art of the deal.’
Trump has to be prepared and able to engage in credible and patient diplomacy, he said, in order to get anything other than ‘a flimsy framework’ that does not have a chance of lasting success.
‘It is in fact precisely because we’re serious about American national security,’ he said, ‘that we need to be serious about defining success.’
Menendez cautioned, ‘If the president signs onto any deal, simply because he wants a bad deal, would be a mistake.’