US president, speaking after a 12-day tour of Asia, also hinted at punitive measures against America’s trading partners in the region
US President Donald Trump reiterated his administration’s goal to denuclearise North Korea through a campaign of “maximum pressure” and hinted at punitive measures against trading partners in Asia.
“We have to denuclearise North Korea. We have ended the failed strategy of strategic patience and as a result we have already seen important progress including tough new sanctions from the UN [Security] Council,” Trump said.
Emphasising the goal of denuclearisation multiple times, Trump also repeated positions that have caused friction with China, including the expansion of a US missile defence system in South Korea and a rejection of a “freeze-for-freeze” agreement whereby the US would scale back joint military exercises with the country around the Korean Peninsula.
Without naming Beijing specifically, Trump said the US threatened “trade action” to cut the country’s trade deficit. At about $350 billion, China has the largest trade surplus with the US.
“The United States welcomed the decision of [South Korean President Moon Jae-in] to remove the payload restrictions on missiles to combat the North Korean threat and together we reaffirmed our commitment to a campaign of maximum pressure,” Trump said.
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The US president made the comments a day after returning home from a 12-day tour of Asia, during which he held bilateral talks with President Xi Jinping, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Moon.
In China, Trump cited trade and investment deals worth US$250 billion, including $37 billion worth of orders and commitments for 300 Boeing jets, and called the deals “tremendous, incredible, job-producing agreements”.
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Other comments Trump made today in his White House speech partly pertained to commitments with Australia, Japan and India to guarantee navigation in the region.
Trump said “we made it clear [at a gathering of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)] that no one owns the ocean,” the president said.
“Freedom of navigation and overflight are critical to the security and prosperity of all nations.”
