Apos;We Didn apos;t Get All The Way apos;: Trump apos;s Embrace Of Kim Yet To Pan Out
President 's strategy of wooing North Korean dictator with repeated pronouncements of their 'special' bond wasn't able to secure the joint statement the administration was planning for Thursday.
Although the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the outlines of what could have been a potential lifting of sanctions in exchange for North Korean denuclearization, the deal wasn't meant to be - at least for now.
'Unfortunately, we didn't get all the way that ultimately made sense for the United States of America,' Pompeo said while standing alongside Trump at a press conference that was abruptly moved forward after summit talks were cut short and a planned luncheon complete with a floral centerpiece was never served.
Trump said Thursday 'there's a warmth that we have,' describing his bond with Kim Jong Un. But hopes of a joint statement collapsed Thursday
But according to Pompeo, despite a first meeting in Singapore and a follow up in Hanoi, the two sides were on the same page.
'I think chairman Kim was hopeful that we would. We asked him to do more. He was unprepared to do that, but I'm optimistic,' Pompeo said.
The summit and the run-up to the second Trump-Kim meeting was punctuated with the president's repeated attestations of how well the two got along, in what appeared to be a form of personal diplomacy and flattery meant to reassure the dictator despite years of mistrust and bellicose rhetoric.
But things broke down over the substance of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile program. A planned lunch that was decked out with a floral centerpiece and kynghidongduong.vn printed menus inside cloth napkins Thursday never happened.
'I want to keep the relationship, and we will keep the relationship. We'll see what happens over the next period of time. But as you know we've got our hostages back. There's no more testing,' Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity, who flew to Hanoi and attended the press conference.
Trump pointed to his trust in Kim when he provided an assurance his regime wouldn't set off more nuclear or missile tests that during another stage of their relationship led Trump to mock him as 'rocket man.'
Trump peviously said they fell 'in love' at their Singapore summit.
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EYE TO EYE? Kim wanted total sanctions relief, but wasn't willing to totally relinquish nukes and missiles to make a deal work
Summit day two: North Korea released this picture of Trump shaking hands with dictator Kim Jong Un on the first day of their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Wednesday
'Unfortunately, we didn't get all the way that ultimately made sense for the United States of America,' Secretary of State Pompeo said
At one point after their first meeting Wednesday, the two men took a stroll by the hotel pool, with photographers ready to capture the moment
'And one of the things importantly that chairman Kim promised me last night is regardless he's not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear - not going to do testing. So, you know, I trust him, and I take him at his word. I hope that's true. But in the meantime we'll be talking,' Trump said.
He explained: 'We - you know, there's a warmth that we have and I hope that stays. I think it will. But we're positioned to do something very special.'
Nevertheless, Trump said in some circumstances you need to walk away. 'Sometimes you have to walk. And this was just one of those times,' Trump told reporters as he prepared to leave Kim behind and fly home to Washington.
Kim announced plans to linger in Vietnam through Saturday, state media reported this week, with speculation he might travel to visit the picturesque sites at Halong Bay.
Asked what the atmosphere was like when he walked out, Trump said: 'I think the relationship was very warm, and when we walked away it was a very friendly walk.'
Trump's faith in his friend even extended to the fate of Otto Warmbier, the late college student who Trump and his aides helped rescue from the grips of North Korea, where he was imprisoned, only to have him die shortly after his return to the U.S. in a coma.
Trump and Jong Un smile during a meeting at the second US-North Korea summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi
'And some really bad things happened to Otto, some really, really bad things. He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,' Trump said of Kim, who maintains a tight grip on power in Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, as the summit began and the two men met for their second meal, Trump also lauded their bond, using a term usually associated with the U.S.-British alliance.
'So we're going to have a very busy day tomorrow, and we'll probably have a pretty quick dinner and a lot of things are going to be solved, I hope. And I think it'll lead to wonderful — it will lead to, really, a wonderful situation tour hạ long term. And our relationship is a very special relationship,' Trump said.