President Trump met with Kim Jong Un in Hanoi this week, but the summit ended early because the US was unwilling to consider North Korea’s demand that all sanctions since 2016 (except those related to weapons) be dropped. North Korea wasn’t willing to make commitments on weapons of mass destruction, so there it was. Maybe it will be a while before they meet next. Heather Hurlburt gives her take and talks about the conflagration in India and Pakistan this week, and reporting that President Trump intervened to get Jared Kushner a security clearance.
On the other side of the world, attention converged on President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen as he testified in front of the House Oversight Committee. Cohen brought receipts (and some checks) and Ken White says both Democrats and Republicans did a really poor job of cross-examining Cohen. Still, there are some major takeaways from his testimony.
John Bresnahan catches the panel up on some votes in the House this week, opposing President Trump’s emergency declaration and supporting background checks for gun purchasers, and on some in-fighting on the Democratic side.