Trump doubts Jong-un fronting
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump says there is a “substantial chance” his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will not take place as planned on June 12, amid concerns Mr Kim is resistant to giving up his nuclear weapons.
Mr Trump raised doubts about the Singapore summit in talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who came to Washington to urge Mr Trump not to let a rare opportunity with reclusive North Korea slip away.
If the summit is called off or fails, it would be a major blow to what Trump supporters hope will be the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency, and a huge disappointment for the President himself.
“There’s a very substantial chance ... it won’t work out. And that’s OK,” Mr Trump said.
“That 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 a good chance that we’ll have the meeting.”
Mr Trump said whether the meeting will be held as scheduled will be determined “pretty soon”.
Mr Trump’s Oval Office remarks were the strongest sign from him yet about the possibility of a delay or cancellation of what would be the first-ever summit between the leaders of the US and North Korea.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo later said the Trump administration was still planning for a June 12 summit.
It was unclear whether Mr Trump was truly backing away from the summit or whether he was strategically coaxing North Korea to the table.
The original purpose of Mr Trump and Mr Moon’s meeting was to fine-tune a joint strategy for dealing with Mr Kim. Instead it has become more of a crisis session after Pyongyang last week threatened
THAT DOESN’T MEAN IT WON’T WORK OUT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. BUT IT MAY NOT WORK OUT FOR JUNE 12 US PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP
to pull out of the planned summit.
The White House was caught off guard when, in a dramatic change of tone, North Korea condemned the latest US-South Korean air combat drills, suspended North-South talks and threw into doubt the summit with Mr Trump if Pyongyang was pushed toward “unilateral nuclear abandonment”.
Aides say Mr Trump has privately been wondering whether Mr Kim is serious about the summit.
Mr Moon told Mr Trump in their private talks that there was no need to doubt North Korea’s will to hold a summit.