Published : Sept. 16, 2019 - 10:45
A senior White House advisor has noted US President Donald Trump's commitment to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, while highlighting the benefit of having a "businessman" as the American leader.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Kellyanne Conway also said that Trump is willing to engage with world leaders and employ diplomacy differently than other politicians who she said are "worried about the next election."
Her remarks came amid criticism over Trump's openness to meeting authoritarian rulers around the world, like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Trump has recently indicated the possibility of him having another meeting with Kim this year.
US President Donald Trump (AFP-Yonhap)
"He believes, as he has said many times, if we can bring peace and prosperity, protect the peace and prosperity of our nation, but bring it to other hot spots around the world, he is willing to do that," Conway said.
"If you are Donald Trump, why bother giving up the great life he had, the very successful life he had outside of the government for 70 years, and if you are not going to engage, if you are not going to do things differently, if you are not going to try to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, if you are not going to try to meet with other folks to get better deals," she added.
Conway also said that Trump is not a president who would pursue short-term political gains in conducting foreign policy.
"I think an expedient president would have already had a so-so deal with China and to get him through the next election," she said. "That is not the way President Trump thinks. He is patient, he waits for a deal. That is a benefit of having a businessman in the White House."
Asked whether Trump will meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month, Conway said the "conditions always must be right" for the president to make a deal or take a meeting. (Yonhap)