Lawmakers looking at what comes next after Trump-Kim summit
WASHINGTON — Confusion, skepticism and a bit of optimism ricocheted around Capitol Hill on Tuesday as lawmakers tried to figure out what comes next after President Donald Trump’s historic summit with Kim Jong Un over North Korea’s nuclear program.
Republicans and Democrats weren’t quite ready to toast the first meeting of a U.S. president with a North Korean leader. They weren’t sure what, exactly, was accomplished. They worried that Trump gave more than he got. They did concur, though, that the pageantry and images won’t mean much unless the North completely denuclearizes.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called the meeting a “major first step” in U.S.-North Korea relations, but not a decisive one if North Korea does not follow through.
“The next steps in negotiations will test whether we can get to a verifiable deal,” McConnell said on the Senate floor. He added, “We and our allies must be prepared to restore the policy of maximum pressure.”