WASHINGTON \u2013 The Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is back on for June 12, following a theatrical note\u2026<\/b>
\nWASHINGTON \u2013 The Singapore summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is back on for June 12, following a theatrical note exchange at the White House Friday.
\u201cNow we\u2019re going to deal,\u201d Trump announced after a 90-minute visit by a North Korean envoy who delivered the note.
The change of heart comes a week after Trump sent a letter to Kim Jong Un calling off the summit after some hot rhetoric from North Korea. But after an Oval Office sit-down with Kim Yong Chol Friday, the president said they are \u201ctotally over\u201d last week\u2019s drama and it would be a \u201cbig mistake\u201d to call off denuclearization talks with North Korea.
\u201cI think we are going to have a relationship and it will start on June 12,\u201d Trump said.
He lowered expectations for the historic sitdown by calling it \u201ca getting-to-know you meeting \u2013 plus\u201d and the beginning of a long process. The US wants complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, and Trump said that Kim is committed to that goal, too.
\u201cHe\u2019d like to see it happen,\u201d Trump said. \u201cHe just wants to be careful. He\u2019s not going to run and do things.\u201d
Trump pledged to keep sanctions on North Korea until it ends its nuclear program. But he threatened a flurry of new sanctions on the rogue regime if \u201ctalks break down.\u201d
\u201cWe have hundreds that are ready to go,\u201d he warned.
\u201cBut why would I do that when we\u2019re talking so nicely?\u201d
The turnaround unfolded with the drama of a reality TV episode. Former North Korean military spymaster Kim Yong Chol arrived at the White house in a black SUV at 1:11 pm and was greeted by Trump\u2019s chief of staff, John Kelly.
Kim Yong Chol was the most senior North Korean official to visit the United States since 2000. The envoy spent the last two days in New York City in talks with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an effort to put the Singapore summit back on track.
Though he\u2019s accused of the Sony pictures 2014 hack and was sanctioned by the US, Kim Yong Chol was feted at the White House.
He strolled the colonnade with Kelly and entered the Oval Office to hand-deliver a note from his boss, the North Korean leader. TV crews were camped outside and zoomed in on the windows to catch a glimpse.
At 2:35 pm, Trump and Pompeo personally escorted Kim Yong Chol outside for a lingering goodbye of handshakes, arm pats and extended conversation. The North Korean emissary was smiling.
Trump and Pompeo posed for several rounds of photos with the North Korean delegation before walking their visitor back his black Chevrolet Suburban at 2:40 pm.
\u201cThis was a letter presentation that ended up being a two-hour conversation,\u201d Trump told the awaiting cameras on the South Lawn.
Notably missing from the spotlight was Trump\u2019s national security adviser, John Bolton, who infuriated the North Koreans by saying he favors the \u201cLibya model\u201d to get rid of nukes.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed after surrendering his nuclear weapons.
As for the letter, Trump initially said the note from the North Korean leader he once dubbed a \u201csick puppy\u201d was \u201cvery nice\u201d and joked about auctioning off a chance to see it.
\u201cHow much? How much?\u201d he toyed with the gathered press.
Before heading off to Camp David for the weekend with Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr. and Tiffany Trump, Trump then said he hadn\u2019t actually read the letter yet.
\u201cI may be in for a big surprise, folks,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n