- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un abruptly ended their summit in Hanoi early without signing a deal
- He said the issue was Kim’s insistence that all sanctions get lifted in return for only giving up some nukes
- Trump continued to tout his ‘warm’ relationship with Kim, but added ‘you have to be willing to walk away’
- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo added that progress had been made ‘but we didn’t get all the way’
- Planned lunch never happened
- Kim’s state news agency KCNA said on Thursday: ‘Sincere and in-depth views were exchanged to bring about a comprehensive and groundbreaking outcome’
- The talks came just hours after Michael Cohen’s bombshell testimony to Congress which damned his ex-boss as a racist and a liar
Donald Trump’s talks with Kim Jong-un ended abruptly on Thursday as the president said he was forced to walk away after the North Korean dictator demanded that all sanctions be lifted in return for giving up only some of his nukes.
Trump said the final snag that caused the sudden breakdown was over sanctions – and Kim’s push to have all of them lifted in exchange for a concession Trump and his secretary of state could not live with.
‘Sometimes you have to walk away,’ Trump told reporters at a press conference in Hanoi that was abruptly moved up after a breakdown in talks.
The president expressed his hope that the two leaders would meet again, but acknowledged: ‘It might be soon, it might not be for a long time. I can’t tell you.’
Meanwhile, the president blasted longtime fixer Michael Cohen, saying he ‘lied’ after his former lawyer delivered bombshell testimony. The president mostly avoided the topic by calling on a series of members of the foreign press corps he did not recognize rather than White House reporters preparing to quiz him on the crimes Cohen claims he witnessed.
‘Person in the front go ahead,’ Trump said, calling on one of many members of the foreign press corps covering the event.