Although former US President Jimmy Carter has expressed his willingness to fly to North Korea to defuse tensions between Washington and Pyongyang, he has received only negative response from the Trump administration. Reuters reported that the 93-year-old ex-president spoke to his friend, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster,
Carter said he told McMaster, the National Security adviser of US President Donald Trump, he is available if Washington needs him. The former president is confident of being able to use his diplomatic skills on Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea.
Over Bill Clinton’s objections
Carter went to North Korea in the mid-1990s to negotiate with Kim Jong-un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung who was the leader then of the communist nation, even if then US President Bill Clinton was against the idea. He sees Kim Jong-un as an unpredictable leader who is capable of doing something pre-emptive if the North Korean leader thinks Trump will act against him.
He warned that Pyongyang possibly has advanced nuclear weapons that can destroy Japan, the Korean peninsula, some outlying American territories in the Pacific, and even the mainland.
Five living presidents
Meanwhile, Carter and four other living US presidents joined forces on Saturday night to show the incumbent president the real face of victory.
With Carter were ex-Presidents Barack Obama, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton to raise funds for One America’s Appeal.
The event, held at College Station in Texas, is a benefit concert for the ongoing hurricane relief efforts. It featured performances by several country and rock musicians, including a surprise appearance by Lady Gaga, Mashable reported.
Setting aside political differences
Lady Gaga, who donated $1 million to the fund, said to the crowd before she performed three songs that during a catastrophe, political differences must be set aside and everyone must come together “because we need each other or we can’t survive.”
The five presidents echoed the same message when they spoke individually.
The two Bushes are Republicans, while Obama, Clinton, and Carter are Democrats. In a pre-recorded message, Trump praised the ability of the country to unite and his five predecessors – whom he had previously criticized individually – for being some of the finest public servants in the US.
One America’s Appeal managed to raise $31 million from more than 80,000 donors as of Saturday night.