Trump just concluded his meeting with Kim Yong Chol, a top aide to Kim Jong Un, in the White House. The meeting was supposed to simply be a letter presentation, however it turned into a two hour meeting.
Trump is now telling the media that the June 12th summit in Singapore is back on:
BREAKING NEWS: "June 12th, we'll be in Singapore."
President @realDonaldTrump says of his meeting with Kim Jong Un. pic.twitter.com/eryCTS9jrb
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) June 1, 2018
Trump made clear that this summit is only the beginning of the process and that he expects there to be more negotiations after this. He said he believes Un wants to denuclearize, however he’s also wants to be careful about it and not rush into it:
Reporter: Do you believe [Kim] is committed to denuclearization?
Pres. Trump: "Yeah, I think so. He'd like to see it happen." https://t.co/he9uLA17dy pic.twitter.com/YqWje376uy— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 1, 2018
Trump is even toning down his language now that this summit is back on:
President Trump: "I don't even want to use the term 'maximum pressure'… because we're getting along… I think the relationship we have right now with North Korea is as good as it has been in a long time." pic.twitter.com/oZFdPJKdpG
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) June 1, 2018
Trump explains that he believes this will be a very successful process, but says ‘well will see’:
.@POTUS: "Remember what I say: We will see what we will see." https://t.co/slsY7OjoaE pic.twitter.com/dpzKRU1be7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 1, 2018
Trump explained how this turned into a two hour meeting:
Why did Pres. Trump's meeting with Kim Yong Chol last for over an hour? "Because found the whole subject matter very interesting, and because I really think they want to do something, and if it's possible, so do we," he says. https://t.co/he9uLA17dy pic.twitter.com/l3oWi7ZMp0
— CBS News (@CBSNews) June 1, 2018