Trump to leave Singapore early after meeting with Kim
US PRESIDENT SAYS NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS HAVE MOVED ‘MORE QUICKLY THAN EXPECTED’
In the latest twist in the drama-filled nuclear talks with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, President Donald Trump announced on the eve of their historic meeting that he will be leaving Singapore early because the nuclear negotiations have moved “more quickly than expected.”
No details were given on any possible progress in preliminary talks between aides at the talks. And the abrupt change in schedule came shortly after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had seemed to lower expectations for the meeting, which Trump had earlier predicted could potentially yield an onthe-spot end to the Korean War.
Instead, Pompeo suggested the summit, while historic, might yield little in the way of concrete success other than to pave the way for more meetings in the future. Pompeo, addressing reporters ahead of the summit, said the US was prepared to take action to provide North Korea with “sufficient certainty” that denuclearisation “is not something that ends badly for them.” He would not say whether that included the possibility of withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula, but stressed the context of the discussions was “radically different than ever before.”
“I can only say this,” Pompeo said. “We are prepared to take what will be security assurances that are different, unique, than America’s been willing to provide previously.” Trump spoke only briefly in public, forecasting a “nice” outcome for the summit during a meeting with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Kim spent the day mostly out of view — until he left his hotel for a late-night tour of Singapore sights, including the Flower Dome, billed as the world’s biggest glass greenhouse.