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Trump says ‘Libya model’ not in store for North Korea… provided it does deal with US
President Donald Trump seems to have undermined his own national security adviser by saying his administration is not considering a “Libyan model” for North Korea. He joked about attacking the country, should they not do a deal.
The term refers to a deal offered to Muammar Gaddafi, who in 2003 agreed to stop Libya’s nascent nuclear weapons program in exchange for rapprochement with the West. Less than a decade later, he was ousted from power and killed by rebels, who were backed by NATO. US National Security Adviser John Bolton’s earlier suggestion that North Korea should strike a similar deal with the US and discard its nuclear weapons was criticized in Pyongyang.
Speaking to journalists in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump seems to have disavowed Bolton’s statements, saying that his administration is not pursuing a Libyan model in the attempt to negotiate an agreement with North Korea. He then joked that the Gaddafi model “will take place if we don’t make a deal,” apparently referring to the ultimate demise of the Libyan leader.
Trump clearly doesn’t understand his own national security adviser’s reference to Libya as a model for North Korea. Bolton was talking about the negotiated removal of Libya’s nuclear program in 2003, not the international military intervention in 2011.
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) May 17, 2018
Trump just casually threatened to go in and decimate North Korea if a deal isn’t made. He said it in passing and used some vague reference to a Libya model. But, it’s what he said.
— Sam Stein (@samstein) May 17, 2018
And John Bolton gets contradicted by President Trump. Trump just now: "The Libyan model isn’t the model we have at all. In Libya we decimated that country."
Bolton less than a month ago: "I think we're looking at the Libya model of 2003-2004."
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 17, 2018
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