Trump-Kim summit: US president blames failure of talks on North Korea's demand for sanctions to be dropped
Follow the latest updates on the historic meeting
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have cut short their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam and skipped a scheduled lunch event.
The White House confirmed the summit had ended with “no agreement reached” as the leaders headed back to their respective hotels.
The US president talks broke down over North Korea’s demands on US-led sanctions.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that,” he told reporters. “Sometimes you have to walk.”
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said negotiations would continue at a future date.
Several Democrats came out acknowledging Mr Trump’s decision to walk away without a deal was the right move in this situation. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said walking away with no deal was better than agreeing to a bad deal, before adding that it was “the result of a poorly planned strategy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar statements, citing his concerns about the likelihood of a bad deal forming out of the summit.
“A deal that fell short of complete denuclearization would have only made North Korea stronger & the world less safe,” Mr Schumer said.
After the summit, Mr Trump also defended Mr Kim over the tragic death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed in North Korea in December 2015 for attempting to steal propaganda material during an organised tour.The president said he does not believe the autocratic leader was aware of Mr Warmbier’s condition in the North Korean hard labour prison camp.
"He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Mr Trump said.
After two years of imprisonment, North Korean authorities returned Mr Warbier to the US in a coma in July 2017. A few days later, the 22-year-old died in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman criticised the American president’s defense of Mr Kim.
“I’m very concerned that the President didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the murder of Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati,” Mr Brown told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know how he says he likes the dictator of NK so much.”
Mr Portman insists that Mr Trump and the American people must remember Mr Warmbier and that “we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him."
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The Associated Press is reporting it seems ever more likely that today was first time Mr Kim responded to a question from a foreign reporter. David Nakamura of the Washington Post, serving as a pool reporter, he was allowed close access to the leaders as the representative of the White House press corps.
“I asked Kim Jong Un if he felt confident he could get a deal with Mr Trump,” Nakamura tweeted. “He replied: 'It's too early to say. I would not say I'm pessimistic'."
Change in plan. Is that presser going to happen earlier than we expected?
From the Associated Press: Talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un are wrapping up earlier than expected.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Thursday that “negotiations are still ongoing” between the two delegations. Trump and Kim were scheduled to have lunch but did not enter the dining room where reporters were assembled.
Sanders says Trump will return with his delegation to his hotel soon, providing no updates on a scheduled joint signing with Kim that had been on the books for 2 p.m.
Sanders says Trump's press conference, which had been scheduled for 4pm, has now been moved to 2pm at his hotel.
CNN saying a signing ceremony also could be called off
It may not be such a negative sign after all, according to one reporter:
Kim Jong-un's huge entourage escorts him back to his hotel after summit schedule changes suddenly
AP) — White House: 'No agreement was reached' between Trump and Kim at Vietnam summit, meetings to continue in the future.
Donald Trump is speaking to the media in Hanoi about the abrupt end of his talks with Kim Jong-un.
He said: "It wasn't a good thing to be signing anything ... and at this time we decided not to do any of the options."
"Sometimes you have to walk," he added.
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