joining us now is abraham denmark, the director of the asian program at the wilson center who is here to discuss the goals and significance to president trump's trip to asia. viewersexplain to our what the wilson center is. guest: it is a congressionally created think tank. a memorial for president wilson. we are a public institution focused on our research on international affairs. i focus on the asia pacific, which goes all the way from afghanistan to hawaii. host: big region. tell us, what, as you see it, is the significance to this trip to

asia for president trump? guest: it is a very significant trip. there are important issues happening in the region. he will be addressing a lot of them. it is a very long trip. the white house is saying it is the longest trip by a president to asia in 25 years. traveling to 25 different countries, south korea, japan, china, be an homage and the philippines and addressing a wide for righty of issues. the main ones being north korea with anrnational trade overlay of what many see as a general competition between the united states and china on who will be the region in the future. host: the wall street journal today has the headline "north korea to dominate the agenda for the president's trip." longest andump's most anticipated trip starts on saturday. having stops in many countries.

pyongyang is desired to be a global nuclear power and the rest of the developed world attempt to undermine that will be the theme of every bilateral meeting. is north korea moving over this entire trip? guest: absolutely. it will be at the top of the agenda for every meeting, especially the first few meetings in tokyo. we have seen in recent years, north korea conducting more and more nuclear tests, ballistic missile tests and it has accelerated. it has really trust the issue to the top of the agenda. bit about a little that. what are the potential risks for the president in going over there? we know he is not planning to go to the demilitarized zone. are there risks about what might happen if north korea does another test while the president is over there? what do see is the potential pitfall there? guest: there is always a risk of

north korea and provocations. in motto of the u.s. forces north korea is fight tonight. the primary pitfalls the president will face are mostly political. while in tokyo he and japanese prime minister abbe are on the same page. there has been a lot of disagreement behind the scenes between president trump and south korean president moon, who initially sought to engage north korea and seems to prefer a much more engagement oriented approach to north korea. different than president trump's hard-line approach. endorsed then has strategy that president trump has been pushing. there is a lot of disagreement in korea. then in beijing, who is seeking to restrain american action and is concerned about the use of american military force.

there is a lot of concern and pitfalls for president he talks about north korea. host: we are talking with abraham denmark, the director at the wilson center. we are discussing the president's trip to asia, which he left the day before yesterday. you mentioned it today in the new york times. it talks a little bit more about that. he won the presidency promising a shift towards dialogue with north korea. he argued that sanctions and pressure would never persuade north korea. he pledged to say no to the americans if necessary six months after south korea's president returned to the

nations -- returned the nation's power. he plans to ease tensions on the -- his plans to ease tensions have gone nowhere. the president plans to double down. they stepped up military drills rattling the region with threats. top little bit more about the role of south korea and how do expect that to play out over the course of this trip? korea is a very important ally of the united states. it host 25,000 american service people and as an ally of the united states. president moon -- as the article mentions and i thought it was a good article -- came to power seeking more engagement oriented approach towards north korea. unfortunately, for him, president trump was more oriented towards a more health

fine approach. north korea has not been terribly interested in the engagement with the south. they are seeking engagement with the united states. there is a difficult position for president moon to be in. he has emphasized that despite their disagreements that he and president trump are on the same page and trying to maximize pressure for now on north korea. goal.is a pretty wide president trump has criticized president moon publicly on twitter for his approach. and president moon has expressed a lot of concern about unilateral american military action. the unitedying that states should coordinate and consult with south korea before launching any sort of military attack against north korea. main concerns the in south korea, that the united states would either intentionally, or unintentionally began a conflict without consulting with south korea for us. host: good morning.

i am glad to be able to speak to mr. denmark. is, how do south korea feel -- host: linda, can you meet your tv and listen to your phone, please? go ahead with your question you are on live now. feelr: how do south korea yes. the threat of -- how do south korea feel about the possibility of japan militarizing? whileok, talk about japan linda deals with her tv. guest: japan, as you probably

know, had a very difficult history with korea before and during the second world war with rights abuses, which, over the years, korea had thought to address and overcome, most recently between the japanese prime minister abe and south korean president park. those historical concerns, those animosities still remained fairly strong in certain parts of the south korean public. at public polling, japan actually pulls -- polls quite well in south korea. south korea has a better perception of japan than it does china. -- amongconcern amount some people in south korea about japan revising its constitution and expanding its military power, which is one of the objectives of the prime minister. and widely broad

held view and south korea. more generally, there has been toorts, more recently, enhance what we call trilateral military cooperation between the united states, south korea and japan. our militaries could cooperate better together for potential north korean threats. host: we are talking to abraham denmark of the wilson center. of defense fort the obama administration. we are talking about the president's trip to asia where he is on route right now. a very big trip, first major trip to the region. 8000.rats 202-748-200 we remind you while you are waiting on the line to listen to your phones and to mute your televisions. both take a look at national security adviser h.r. mcmaster.

have been reporting what to expect from the strip and touching on whether the presidents fire and fury rhetoric still stands. >> what about using that i that -- by rhetoric that close to the border and will he bring up human rights. the president will use whatever language he wants to use. the president has clarified in all of his discussions, statements on north korea, our determination to ensure that north korea is unable to threaten our allies and our partners and certainly the united states. we feel clarity and a pass and i'm sure he will do that during the trip as well. that has been a great reassurance to our allies partners and others in the region who are under the gun of this regime. >> do think the language is because of where he is? >> at all the president

modulates his language. he has been very clear about it. quickly,alk about this i have been aware of the discussions about his inflammatory -- what is inflammatory as the north korean regime and what they are doing to threaten the world. i think there will be a grave danger if that regime did not understand our resolve, the counterts resolve to north korean aggression. the president has made it very clear. host: what is your reaction. guest: i think they are speaking about the president's remarks in south korea. he will be addressing the south korean legislator of the national assembly, which is an opportunity to explain and clarify the administration's approach towards north korea. i think general mcmaster is right, that north korean actions and statements i been for a inflammatory and problematic.

the president is in a difficult position when it comes to north korea. this is not a crisis of his making, this is been a building crisis for decades. unfortunately, especially for president trump, it is coming thatg his administration north korea is increasingly closer to developing a nuclear capable icbm. it has been a policy that the united states would not accept north korea as capable of striking the united states would nuclear weapons. what i disagree with with mcmaster on is that the president's administration has been clear in its approach towards north korea. i feel like there has been various endorsements of diplomacy, criticisms of diplomacy saying the united states does not seek regime change. speech it was a key opportunity for the president to

clarify his position and to make the case for what they are saying is at times running out, but the terms against north korea is not acceptable and we need to find another way towards denuclearization. in japanent trump is until tuesday. he goes to south korea and china for meetings. for the last leg of the trip he stops in vietnam will -- where he will attend the economic cooperation meeting. then he heads to the philippines for the association of southeast asian nations summit. the coverage -- watch coverage here on c-span networks. the house ways and means committee begins its work on the republican's tax reform plan monday before sending it to the full house for the debate. watch live coverage monday starting at noon eastern on c-span.org. listen live using the free c-span radio app -- app. >> tonight on c-span, q&a with

pulitzer prize winner ron followed by british prime minister theresa may taking questions from members of the house of commons. ♪ this week -- >> this week on q&a, ron chernow discusses his biography of ulysses s. grant. ron chernow, author of u.s. new biography. even as they rush to publish their memoirs and cashing in on their celebrity, u.s. grant refused to trumpet