Trump, at North Korea summit, distracted by Cohen

By Hebert Komati

Posted on February 28, 2019

Vietnam, Hanoi – The moment was meant to be a grand diplomatic triumph, a headline-dominating spectacle that could lead to the disarmament of a dangerous nation while delivering a vital political victory.

Instead, President Donald Trump’s high-stakes summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Wednesday was in danger of being upstaged by a monumental betrayal unfolding half a world away in Washington.

Hours after Trump sat face-to-face with Kim in Vietnam, his former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, sat before Congress and testified that his longtime boss was a “conman” and a “racist” who lied about having advanced knowledge of Wikileaks plans to release an opponent’s stolen emails.

The spectacle was proof the Trump presidency has not yet exhausted its ability to surprise. As the president staged a historic summit abroad, a former confidante delivered testimony, both detailed and taunting, that threatened to humiliate the president and undermine his foreign policy goals.

The drama drew Trump’s attention even amid sensitive denuclearization talks. Even before the hearing began, the president unleashed an attack on his former fixer, who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress and campaign finance violations and has been sentenced to three years. In a tweet, Trump downplayed Cohen’s influence and claimed he was “lying in order to reduce his prison time.”

Source and full English article: The Asahi Shimbun

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902280014.html