Trump says ‘no rush’ on denuclearisation
United States
President Donald Trump said that he is in ‘‘no rush whatsoever’’ on North Korean denuclearisation, setting low expectations for his summit next week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump and Kim will meet on February 27 and 28 in Hanoi, following up on their meeting in Singapore last June.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he had a ‘‘great conversation’’ about the trip with South Korean President Moon Jae-in yesterday morning. Moon’s administration has said it hopes Trump and Kim can achieve ‘‘specific’’ progress toward denuclearisation, although some observers have voiced scepticism about the effectiveness of Trump’s approach.
Trump said that while he would ‘‘ultimately’’ like to see North Korea denuclearise, he has ‘‘no pressing time schedule’’ because ‘‘the sanctions are on.’’
‘‘We’re in no rush whatsoever,’’ Trump told reporters. ‘‘We’re going to have our meeting . . . As long as there’s no testing, I’m in no rush. If there’s testing, that’s another deal.’’
He added that he expects next week’s summit with Kim to be ‘‘very exciting.’’
Trump had long mocked Kim as ‘‘Little Rocket Man.’’ But he took a different tone after their summit last year. In a tweet earlier this month, Trump predicted that North Korea ‘‘will become a different kind of Rocket – an Economic one!’’
In Washington yesterday, Trump signed a policy directive that laid out a framework for the Space Force he has long sought but that fell short of his initial vision for a new service that is ‘‘separate but equal’’ to the Air Force.
In the document, the president directed the Pentagon to create legislation for Congress that would place the Space Force under the control of the Air Force Department, in a fashion similar to how the Navy Department oversees the Marine Corps. It marks a partial win for senior Air Force officials: They argued that creating a separate military department – as Trump had stated he wants – would create unnecessary Pentagon bureaucracy.
Trump signed the directive in the Oval Office while flanked by senior defence officials that included acting defence secretary Patrick Shanahan, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Air Force General Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. –