Trump’s summit with North Korean leader doomed to failure: Scholar

American writer and academic James Petras says US President Donald Trump’s forthcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is doomed to failure, because Trump has set up conditions which are totally unacceptable to North Korea.

James Petras, who has written dozens of books on international issues, made the comments in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on a recent statement by Trump in which he said that “everyone thinks” he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Everyone thinks so, but I would never say it,” Trump said on Wednesday when asked by a reporter in the White House if he thinks he should win the prestigious award.

He said this after South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, rejected suggestions that he should win the prestigious award himself for his negotiations with North Korea, instead crediting Trump.

‘Trump deserves Nobel Prize for War’

Professor Petras said, “There’s absolutely no basis for Trump making the assumption or assertion that the world opinion is favorable to his being anointed with the Nobel Prize. In fact I think he’s more likely to get the Nobel Prize for War, rather than a Peace Prize, because currently Trump is involved in numerous wars.”

“[He] has rejected a negotiated settlement in Syria, has increased US military presence in Afghanistan, is financing the war in Yemen, supporting Israel’s wars against the Palestinians, and has pledged support to Israel’s violation of the sovereignty of Lebanon, and Syria, and looks toward a belligerent posture toward Iran,” he added.

“So I think this is a bad joke. No one takes it serious. And I think the South Korean statement by President Moon is laughable even in Seoul where his comments are seen more as flattering a demagogue than a bonafide expression of the feeling in South Korea,” the analyst stated.

North Korea won’t accept unilateral US conditions’

On Thursday, Trump announced his meeting with North Korean leader Kim will take place next month in Singapore.

“The highly anticipated meeting between Kim Jong Un and myself will take place in Singapore on June 12th,” Trump tweeted on Thursday morning.

“We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!” he added.

Professor Petras said, “I think it’s very clear that Trump’s forthcoming meeting with North Korea is doomed to failure, because he set up conditions which are totally unacceptable to North Korea, which is not likely to accept unilateral disarmament, unilateral submission to Trump and sacrificing their relationships with China.”

“Trump is acting as if the world has been made according to his own vision, which is a distorted vision, that you can threaten and bully countries into submission,” he added.

“Unfortunately, this has been encouraged by the kind of servile behavior of the Europeans who have been tagging along with some of the most ridiculous policies,” the analyst noted.

“So I think the policies of accommodating Trump have been self-defeating, because instead of securing some mutual concessions Trump interprets every acceptance from Europe and other countries as submission rather than as the basis for reconciliation,” he observed.

“And this, if you want to see, it’s like encouraging a madman to proceed with his madness rather than suggest he needs a straightjacket,” he concluded.