Albright, who served during the Bill Clinton presidency, told CNN's Jake Tapper on "The Lead" that she was surprised by Trump's remarks
to Bloomberg News earlier this week, in which the President said he'd
be "honored" to meet with Kim "under the right circumstances."
"A
president doesn't go to a country without any preparation, and
'honored' would definitely be the wrong way to discuss somebody who is
keeping his people in poverty and starving and control," Albright said
Tuesday.
She warned that Trump shouldn't think of his relationship with the dictator as a personal one.
"I
think that part of the issue is that President Trump seems to believe
that he can have just one-on-one relationships. And maybe that's
possible in business, but that is not something that is possible as
president of the United States," she said. "This is not a matter of
charming, by saying you're 'honored' and he's a 'smart cookie.'"
Albright is one of the most high-profile
American diplomats to have visited North Korea on official business,
meeting with former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in Pyongyang in
2000. But no sitting US president has ever met with the leader of North
Korea while in power, and the idea is extremely controversial.
She advice to Trump would be, Albright said: "I do think it's
important to push them, and the Chinese can be more helpful on this --
and we have to make it clear that they cannot be a nuclear power."
The
former secretary of state stressed open communication between the Trump
administration and Russia, acknowledging that she believes it
"certainly looks" like relations between the United States and the
Kremlin are at their worst levels since World War II.
"I
do think it's important to have a functional relationship with Russia,
to tell them what's acceptable and what's not. I think the phone calls
are fine," she said of Trump's relationship with President Vladimir
Putin.
Trump had a call with Putin on Tuesday.
Trump's
relationship with Russia has been highly scrutinized, especially in the
wake of news that the FBI is investigating Russia's involvement in hacking of Democratic servers and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign prior to the election.
At
the time, FBI Director James Comey announced the FBI was looking into
investigating Clinton's use of a private email server. The bureau
ultimately decided not to reopen an investigation into Clinton, but many, including Albright, believe Comey's comments shortly before the campaign's end contributed to Clinton's loss.
"I
was out on the road and I know the Comey letter made a difference. I
saw that," Albright told CNN. "As I was out and about, people would ask a
lot about it and it would raise questions that as it turns out that
were unnecessary. I think (Clinton) did the right thing in taking
responsibility (for the loss), but there were outside factors in Comey
and what the Russians were doing."
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