President Donald Trump announced Friday morning that he would once again consider attending a summit with North Korea on June 12 in Singapore.
Trump sent a letter Thursday canceling the denuclearization talks after North Korean officials insulted Vice President Mike Pence's intelligence and reportedly became unresponsive to the summit planning process. But later that evening, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a statement saying that he would still be open to meeting with Trump and American officials. "We would like to make known to the US side once again that we have the intent to sit with the US side to solve problem(s) regardless of ways at any time," he said to his official state media.
It appears that Kim's response was enough to satiate Trump, who said Friday that "it was a very nice statement they put out; we'll see what happens." "We're going to see what happens," he later clarified. "We're talking to them right now. It could even be the 12th ... We'd like to do it."
Trump told reporters that he had no hard feelings toward North Korea because "everybody plays games."
Defense Secretary James Mattis later confirmed that things were likely back on to reporters. "We have got some possibly good news on the Korea summit where it may, if our diplomats can pull it off, may have it back on even," he said.
The president first discussed re-entering peace talks early Friday when he tweeted, "Very good news to recieve the warm and productive statement from North Korea. We will soon see where it will lead, hopefully to long and enduring prosperity and peace. Only time (and talent) will tell!"
American-North Korean relations have taken an number of twists and turns over the course of Trump's young presidency. At first the president threatened "fire and fury" to the state, and referred to Kim as "Little Rocket Man." But late last year, Trump accepted an invitation to speak with Kim.
"This is pretty haphazard process that we've seen," Senator Tom Udall, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told CNN. "The president seems to be functioning more along the lines of a high stakes real estate deal with intimidation and pain and then trying to get an agreement."
Markets dropped drastically on the news that Trump had canceled the meeting yesterday, but quickly rebounded after Kim's statement was released.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Nicole Goodkind is a political reporter with a focus on Congress. She previously worked as a reporter for Yahoo Finance, ... Read more
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