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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Actually, the total may be a lot more than that. From Reuters: In a deal witnessed by U.S. President Donald Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong, VietJet signs firm order to buy 100 new Boeing 737 Max planes worth $12.7 billion at list price
As Mr Trump's talks with Vietnamese leaders continue, news is breaking back home in the US that his advisers will no doubt be keeping a close eye on.
Mr Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is due to address Congress later today and a print-out of his initial prepared statements has just been released.
It reveals that Mr Cohen will tell Congress that Mr Trump is "a racist, a conman and a cheat" and that he was aware, as a presidential candidate, that Roger Stone was in touch with WikiLeaks about releasing Democrat emails. He says he will back all of these claims up with evidence.
More on that here:
Meanwhile, back in Vietnam, the US and Vietnamese presidents were greeted by schoolchildren:
Mr Trump has now left that meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart and arrived at lunch with the prime minister and other officials.
At the start of the meal, the US president said he appreciated the commercial order that Vietnam had made as well as the fact that the US trade deficit with the Southeast Asian nation was coming down.
Mr Trump also said he was looking forward to his meeting this evening with Kim Jong-un and that the North Korean leader wanted to do something "great".
Ahead of the lunch meeting, Vietnamese carriers VietJet and Bamboo Airways signed deals with Boeing Co to buy 110 planes worth more than $15 billion.
Of course, the US president also has other things on his mind. Or at least, perhaps he ought to:
From CNN:
Mr Trump and Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen are currently sharing a working lunch in the country's Presidential Palace in Hanoi.
Here's the detail:
First course: Fresh shredded green mango salad with scallops, mint leaves and cashew nuts served in a sweet vinaigrette dressing.
Second course: Deep fried Hanoi-style spring rolls with shrimp, pork, vermicelli and vegetables served with a side of sweet and sour fish sauce and red chillies.
Third course: King crab meat and spinach in a light seafood-based broth.
Fourth course: Grilled cod fish “cha ca”; roasted Wagyu beef medallions with foie gras and a semi-sweet fermented black rice sauce; sautéed “su su” vegetables with garlic (crispy green chayote stems and leaves); steamed sticky glutinous rice with shrimp wrapped in a lotus leaf.
Dessert: A traditional Vietnamese dessert consisting of lotus seeds, longans, and white wood-ear mushrooms served warm and in a light sugary syrup.
Vietnam's Halong Bay is wonderful. Who could blame them?
From the AP: 'North Korean officials have toured Vietnam’s scenic Halong Bay and a nearby industrial site while leader Kim Jong Un spent his second morning in Hanoi inside a hotel preparing for his meetings with Donald Trump.
'South Korean TV on Wednesday showed a group of North Korean officials, including Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the party’s central committee, taking a cruise ride along Halong Bay and visiting factories in the port city of Hai Phong'
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