Trump: North Korea summit may be back on

President was pleased with conciliatory statement released by Kim Jong Un

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration was back in touch with North Korea and the two sides may reschedule his summit meeting with Kim Jong Un, perhaps even on the original June 12 date, a stunning reversal just a day after the president cancelled the get-together.

“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. “It could even be the 12th,” he said.

“We’re talking to them now. They very much want to do it. We’d like to do it. We’ll see what happens.”

Trump indicated that he was pleased with a conciliatory statement released by North Korea after his decision Thursday to scrap the summit meeting, and he brushed off concerns that had been raised privately by his staff and publicly by his allies and adversaries alike that Kim was playing him.

“Everybody plays games,” he told a reporter.

“You know that.”

The president’s comments were the latest head-spinning twist in a diplomatic dance that has played out unlike any in recent years. After threatening “fire and fury” against North Korea last year, Trump abruptly accepted an invitation to meet.

He just as suddenly called off the meeting Thursday morning after North Korean officials failed to show up for a planning meeting in Singapore and issued a statement calling Vice-President Mike Pence a “political dummy.”

But Trump still gave the impression of someone eager to pursue a relationship and a deal. And North Korea picked up on that by reacting calmly to the cancellation, issuing a statement saying that “with a broad and open mind, we are willing to give the United States time and opportunity” to come back to the table.

Trump responded positively on Twitter on Friday morning. “Very good news to receive the warm and productive statement from North Korea,” he wrote. “We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!”