Trump admits North Korea nuclear summit 'may not work out'

Source: The Guardian

May 22, 2018 at 15:43

Donald Trump speaks at the White House with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, on Tuesday. Moon told Trump the ‘fate and the future’ of the Korean peninsula hinged on the talks. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

President says he believes Kim is ‘serious’ about denuclearization but acknowledges: ‘It may not work out for June 12’

Donald Trump said there was a “very substantial chance” that his summit next month with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, could be postponed.

Trump raised doubts over the timing of the summit, due in Singapore on 12 June, at a White House meeting with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

“We’re moving along. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. “There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we’ll get those conditions. And if we don’t, we won’t have the meeting.”

Trump did not specify the conditions the US was setting for the meeting.

“There is a very substantial chance that it won’t work out, but that’s ok,” he added. “It doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time, but it may not work out for June 12. But there is still a good chance we’ll have the meeting.

Harking back to his real estate career, Trump said that deals that seem certain sometimes fail while those which appear to have little chance of success end in triumph. Referring specifically to his talks with North Korea, the president added: “In the end it will work out. I can’t tell you how or why, but it always does.”

Trump said that if Kim agreed to disarm: “We will guarantee his safety..He’ll be safe. He’ll be happy. His country will be rich.”

Read More (...)