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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↵Here's Andrew Buncombe on what would need to happen in Hanoi to represent a "win-win" outcome for both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
Here's Louis Staples for Indy100 on the president's claim yesterday his daughter Ivanka had "created millions of jobs", a remark met with no little scepticism.
A little recap on the Democrats' resolution to block President Trump's national emergency, widely expected to fly through the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives in today's vote.
Assuming it does so, the measure - co-sponsored by a Republican, Michigan's Justin Amash - will fall to the Senate, where, should the Democrats stick together, its passage would require just four Republican defectors to join them and see it approved.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell may be backing the president's position but three rebel senators have already declared their intention to support the resolution:
- Susan Collins of Maine
- Thom Thillis of North Carolina
- Lisa Mukowksi of Alaska
Will a fourth emerge?
If they do, the resolution will be President Trump's to veto. A crushing embarrassment for The Donald should it come to it.
Donald Trump has touched down in Hanoi, Vietnam, where he is expected to deplane momentarily. He is currently waving to media.
Donald Trump is shaking hands with officials and chatting after deplaning Air Force One. He has been handed a bouquet of flowers.
The president is expected to head to his hotel for the night and does not have any meetings scheduled for the rest of the day.
Trump has left the tarmac in his presidential motorcade and is heading to his hotel in Hanoi.
Here's footage of Donald Trump deplaning Air Force One in Hanoi, Vietnam:
Donald Trump spent 20 hours aboard Air Force One before deplaning in Hanoi. The US president will enjoy a quiet night before tomorrow’s kickoff of meetings, dinners and receptions leading up to his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Here’s video of Mr Trump initially boarding for his international trip earlier this week:
Also in Hanoi is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, pictured below shaking hands with the Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Pham Binh Minh:
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