Opinion: Trump wants to rekindle his Kim Jong Un bromance, but North Korea has other suitors now

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

53% : During his first term, Trump was able to push for personal engagement with North Korea's head of state despite resistance among his national security advisors.
45% : First, Kim hasn't forgotten his previous meetings with Trump.
43% : This was partly because his other options -- more economic sanctions or military action -- ranged from ineffective to disastrous, and partly because the South Korean president at the time, Moon Jae-in, was able to convince Trump that a direct channel of communication to Kim might be the key to cementing a nuclear deal of historic importance.
36% : In the end, Trump and Kim, their personal chemistry notwithstanding, were unable to come to terms -- Trump, pushed by his hawkish advisors, advocated for North Korea's complete denuclearization; Kim, meanwhile, was only willing to demobilize his main plutonium research facility at Yongbyon.
36% : Yet if Trump wants a second roll of the dice, he needs to keep a healthy dose of skepticism front-of-mind.
34% : As long as the Russia-North Korea relationship continues as its current pace, Trump will be hard pressed to bring the North Koreans back to the negotiating table.
28% : Yet for Trump, all of these items may be minor when compared to one other issue: resolving the North Korea nuclear conundrum.
26% : After nearly a year of fire-breathing rhetoric and talk about a "bloody nose" strike that would scare Pyongyang into talks, Trump opted to gamble on direct diplomacy.
26% : While Trump managed to get North Korea to suspend missile tests for a year -- no small accomplishment given its past activity -- the flashy summitry ultimately crashed and burned.
25% : None of this is to suggest that Trump shouldn't try another diplomatic foray with North Korea.
18% : If Trump enters office thinking he can easily resurrect his relationship with Kim, then he's going to set himself up for disappointment.

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