Donald Trump Jr. defends president's actions at North Korea summit
Donald Trump Jr. said the Trump administration has made more progress on diplomatic relations with North Korea than past presidents, despite the abrupt end to summit talks between his father, President Donald Trump, and Kim Jong Un Thursday in Vietnam.
Trump was part of a Conservative Political Action Conference panel held at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, Friday moderated by the university's President Jerry Falwell Jr. and broadcast live to the CPAC audience at the Gaylord in National Harbor, Maryland.
During his remarks, Trump addressed his father’s record on talks with North Korea, saying the president “changed up the game” on diplomatic relations with the communist dictatorship.
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“He pushed hard, he did things, and guess what? We haven’t had a nuclear test in a year-and-a-half. We haven’t seen test missiles flying over Japan. We’re actually in a room. We got prisoners back. We got the remains of our Korean War veterans back,” said Trump.
“So all these experts that know so much, what did they do in 60 years, Jerry? They didn’t do anything. So he’s getting it done and that’s a threat to them, because they don’t want someone who can actually get something done.”
Falwell agreed, adding that he believed the reason President Trump was able to accomplish these things was because “of his business background.”
“The other presidents we’ve had in the last 40 years don’t have that business background. They don’t understand that sometimes you got to play hardball, you got to say no,” Falwell said. “They would give a little bit, they’d released some sanctions in return for lots of promises from the North Koreans and the promises wouldn’t be kept.”
The Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi ended a few hours earlier than expected when the two leaders failed to reach an agreement on denuclearization and sanctions.
“Sometimes you have to walk,” the president said at a news conference. “This was just one of those times.”
Regarding the sudden end to the talks, the younger Trump echoed the president's comments, saying, “sometimes you have to walk away.”
“And that’s what people don’t understand. Oh my God!” he exclaimed. “What? You want to sign a bad deal that means nothing?”
In addition to Trump and Falwell, the other members of the panel included Falwell’s wife, Becki, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.
CPAC is being held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor, Maryland, the conference also featured sessions broadcast at Liberty University as well as Colorado Christian University and Pepperdine University in California.
Other featured CPAC speakers at Liberty University included Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, former White House communications director Sean Spicer, and actor Gary Sinise.
