Just In: After Getting Letter from Kim, White House Coordinating 2nd North Korea Summit
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Monday that the United States is planning a second summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un after receiving a “very positive letter” from the North Korean leader.
“The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to and already in the process of coordinating that,” Sanders said during a news briefing with reporters.
She further characterized the letter as “very warm,” but said the White House would not be releasing it unless Kim agrees to it being published.
The press secretary saw the letter as evidence of the progress the administration has made in its dealings with North Korea.
“The president has achieved tremendous success with his policies so far and this letter was further evidence of progress in that relationship,” Sanders said.
She listed the return of the remains of Americans service members from the Korean War, the release of three American hostages in May and the absence of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons tests for several months as achievements to date.
Sanders also noted that North Korea did not include intercontinental missiles Sunday in its massive military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the country.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says Pres. Trump received "a very warm, very positive letter" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un: "The primary purpose of the letter was to request and look to schedule another meeting with the president, which we are open to" pic.twitter.com/5x1aeAlXcC
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) September 10, 2018
Trump highlighted the absence of the missiles in a pair of tweets that day.
“North Korea has just staged their parade, celebrating 70th anniversary of founding, without the customary display of nuclear missiles. Theme was peace and economic development,” the president wrote.
He then quoted Fox News, tweeting, “Experts believe that North Korea cut out the nuclear missiles to show President Trump its commitment to denuclearize.”
…its commitment to denuclearize.” @FoxNews This is a big and very positive statement from North Korea. Thank you To Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong! There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other! Much better than before I took office.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 9, 2018
“This is a big and very positive statement from North Korea,” Trump argued. “Thank you To Chairman Kim. We will both prove everyone wrong! There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other! Much better than before I took office.”
North Korea has staged a huge military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the country's founding — however, unlike previous parades, it did not feature intercontinental ballistic missiles https://t.co/M2PMViXWmP pic.twitter.com/1ROCVIGr9D
— CNN (@CNN) September 9, 2018
CNN reported that the Mass Games also marking the anniversary did not include a mention of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, unlike years past.
South Korean officials who met with Kim last week said afterward the North Korean leader has “unwavering trust for President Trump.”
Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims “unwavering faith in President Trump.” Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2018
Trump responded via Twitter, “Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!”
The two leaders met in June in Singapore, where Kim agreed to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
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