'He went full Nunberg': Republican pundits worry Trump will 'screw up' Kim Jong-un meeting

President Donald Trump made the executive decision to buck with tradition by using back channels to negotiate with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and instead agreed outright to do it.

Cable news pundits spent much of Thursday talking about the absurdity of elevating the North Korean dictator to the same level as the U.S. president and that President Donald Trump's ploy isn't likely to work.

"It was bizarre, strange, especially given the way the president went into the briefing room a short time before and with glee told them a big announcement was coming out from South Korea," Republican commentator Alice Stewart confessed. She went on to say that it was a good thing, but only if it works to denuclearize North Korea.

Republican commentator Tara Setmayer similarly had reservations, but did admit the pressure he's put on the dictator may have made a difference.

"I will give the Trump administration credit for the amount of pressure that they have put on North Korea," noted Setmayer. "More so for sure than the -- than the Obama administration. (Sanctions are) what they call, in the foreign policy community, maximum pressure. And the maximum pressure comes from a multi-pronged approach. One of them is the sanctions and the additional sanctions that they put on has also included some banks and some companies in China because the North Koreans have been able to skirt sanctions for so many years. That's why they are still propped up because of Russia and China and have been able to game the system."

She noted that they seem to be trying to give North Korea money to keep the state going and have done so for the last 25 years.

"Yes I have reservations about the timing of the president accepting this meeting so eagerly," Setmayer noted. "They need to let this maximum pressure time to work. Given that stake other stakeholders were underwear aware of this, it almost seems the president is his own ambassador, his own strategist and he decided to make a huge decision because it's something that no one has done before. It's almost like he went full Nunberg on this, where he said look no one else has done it. I'm trending! I'm going to do it now. Just like with tariffs. That's the part I think concerns most people -- professionals in the foreign policy community. Because this is a very delicate situation and I hope he doesn't mess it up."

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