Trump called the death of Otto Warmbier this morning a ‘total disgrace’ and suggested if he were brought home a lot sooner it might not have happened:
.@POTUS: “It’s a total disgrace what happened to Otto." pic.twitter.com/W4Mybn3MFm
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) June 20, 2017
Trump is undoubtedly right here. Obama didn’t really care about getting our people home or he would have done a lot more to make it happen. Just ask Otto’s family.
Thankfully Trump and Tillerson have prioritized getting our people home and I hope they are able to bring back more.
According to the Guardian, N. Korea has at least 3 other Americans:
In addition to three other Americans, the regime is known to be holding six South Koreans, a Canadian and a number of Chinese people.
Tillerson said last week they were already working on restricting travel to N. Korea:
Separately, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has raised the prospect of the administration using an executive order to ban travel to North Korea.
“We have been evaluating whether we should put some type of travel visa restriction to North Korea,” Tillerson told a House committee last week. “We haven’t come to a final conclusion, but we are considering it.”
I expect now that Otto has died that this effort will happen much quicker.
In fact Congress may pass something as well:
Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) have introduced the North Korea Travel Control Act in the House, which would require Americans who want to travel to North Korea to obtain a license. There would be no licenses for tourists.
The Senate has been more reluctant to introduce restrictions on Americans — but Warmbier’s death might be the trigger that they need, analysts say.
Let’s hope someone does something to keep more Americans from falling into the hands of these barbaric commies.