Trump says he has a 'special feeling' ahead of second summit with Kim Jong Un
President Trump told a gathering of governors at the White House on Sunday that he has a "special feeling" about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of their second meeting in Vietnam this week.
Trump touted his "very, very good relationship" with the dictator, and appeared to tamp down expectations for any deals the two might strike on denucleariziation.
"We see eye to eye, I believe … What's going to happen, I can't tell you … As long as there's no testing, we're happy," Trump said, according to a press pool report.
North Korea has not conducted any missile or nuclear tests since 2017, and while the Trump administration has welcomed the de-escalation on the Korean Peninsula, the U.S. has simultaneously pressed the rogue regime to begin dismantling its nuclear and missile programs.
Kim held an unprecedented summit with Trump in Singapore last summer, where the pair signed an agreement committing to work toward “a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula.”
With their second meeting in Hanoi fast approaching, some critics have expressed concern that Trump may feel pressured to go easy on Kim during a face-to-face talk. The Washington Post reported this weekend that some of the president's aides expressed skepticism that a deal could be reached to solidify the tenets of the July agreement.
“Trump seems to now define them not testing as a success. That’s not a success,” said Bruce Klingner, a former CIA analyst on Northeast Asia. “If there’s no progress, then at what point does the U.S. say, ‘Look, they’re stringing us along?’”
The change in tone was the subject of a back-and-forth between CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday. Tapper read a tweet from Trump in July following his meeting with Kim in Singapore, in which he said, "There is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."
Pompeo claimed Trump didn't say North Korea no longer posed a nuclear danger, despite what the tweet said.
"What he said was the efforts that had made in Singapore, this commitment that Chairman Kim made have substantially taken down the risk to the American people. It's the mission of the secretary of state and the president of the United States to keep American people secure. We're aiming to achieve that," Pompeo said.
The conversation then turned to sanctions and Tapper pressed Pompeo to clarify whether the administration has moved the goal posts on what how far North Korea must go in tamping down its nuclear program before some sanctions are lifted.
"There's no change," Pompeo said. That came after Tapper quoted him saying recently sanctions relief will come when "we're confident that we substantially reduced that risk," compared to him saying last summer that such a decision would only be made when "complete denuclearization" is achieved.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-says-he-has-a-special-feeling-ahead-of-second-summit-with-kim-jong-un