President Donald Trump conceded Tuesday that a planned summit between the U.S. and North Korea may not occur on June 12 as planned over disagreements about North Korea’s nuclear program.
“It may not Work out for June 12,” the president said to reporters in the Oval Office, saying it could happen at a later date. “You never know about deals…..I’ve made a lot of deals. You never really know,” Trump added.
Trump’s comments came during a visit by South Korean president Moon Jae-In who is visiting Washington to discuss plans for the summit. The Trump administration was optimistic in recent weeks that a summit would occur between the U.S. and North Korea until its recent protests of U.S. military drills on the Korean peninsula.
The protests included statements repudiating past commitments to Trump administration officials about willingness to give up its nuclear weapons stockpile in exchange for economic aid. Trump reiterated his commitment to the summit with the goal of de-nuclearization committing to guaranteeing saying Kim Jong Un will be “very happy.”