The chart above reflects the results of a new Rasmussen Poll -- done on May 10th and 13th of a random national sample of 1,000 likely voters, with a 3 point margin of error.
I understand that the Rasmussen Poll is usually kind to the Republican point of view, but I was still rather shocked to see these results. The poll says that 51% of the public is at least somewhat confident that the meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un next month will result in the denuclearization of North Korea (or at least the slowing of their program). Only 39% don't believe the meeting will accomplish that (and 10% are unsure whether anything will be accomplished).
I know that Trump has a dream of North Korean denuclearization, and believes the economic sanctions on that country has forced them to the bargaining table. I believe he is wrong.
North Korea has wanted a one-to-one meeting with the President of the United States for many years now -- and they would happily have done such a meeting with George W. Bush or Barack Obama. But Bush and Obama both were smart enough to understand that such a meeting would only benefit North Korea, and would not result in the termination of their nuclear weapons program.They understood that the North Korean leader only wanted such a meeting to enhance his own standing in the eyes of the world -- and meeting one-on-one with the most powerful leader in the world would make him look like a true world leader.
Trump is not that smart, and he fell for the ploy by Kim Jong-Un. He doesn't understand that this was just a public relations ploy by North Korea, and the fact that the meeting will be held means North Korea has already gotten what they want (and the meeting's photo ops will just be icing on the cake for them).
Trump claims that North Korea stopping their nuclear testing was because of his threats and sanctions, and represented a concession by the North Korean leader. It wasn't. As experts have noted, the nuclear test site that North Korea used has collapsed. It is unusable. North Korea couldn't test a nuclear device right now if it wanted to do so. Trump was conned.
North Korea has no intention of giving up their nuclear weapons.