Trump teases the prospect of North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons as he prepares for his second summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam after concluding trade talks with China
- President Trump's economic argument is likely a preview of the case he will make to Kim Jong Un in their second summit in Vietnam this week
- In a series of tweets he teased the prospect of denuclearization and said such a move could make North Korea 'one of the great economic powers'
- Trump and Kim meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi, Vietnam
- Its their second sit down following last summer's summit in Singapore
- The U.S. is looking for verifiable progress from North Korea on downgrading its nuclear weapons program
- North Korea wants a losing of economic sanctions before it makes such moves
- Trump said last week he'll keep economic sanctions in place unless there has been 'meaningful' progress on denuclearization
President Donald Trump on Sunday teased the prospect of denuclearization in North Korea ahead of his second summit with Kim Jong Un and argued such a move would help make the country 'one of the great economic powers.'
He also offered praise to Chinese President Xi Jinping for his help in the matter as the U.S. continues talks with Beijing to try and end a trade war.
President Trump's economic argument is likely a preview of the case he will make to Kim in Vietnam this week as the U.S. has demanded verifiable steps North Korea has downgraded its nuclear program before it will support ending economic sanctions against the country.
President Trump's economic argument is likely a preview of the case he will make to Kim Jong Un in their second summit in Vietnam this week
Trump touted his progress with Pyongyang ahead of Monday's departure for Vietnam for his second face-to-face sit down with Kim in a series of tweets Sunday morning.
'Very productive talks yesterday with China on Trade. Will continue today! I will be leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam, early tomorrow for a Summit with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, where we both expect a continuation of the progress made at first Summit in Singapore. Denuclearization?,' he wrote.
He then offered warm warms of praise for the Chinese in the wake of trade talks between the two countries.
'President Xi of China has been very helpful in his support of my meeting with Kim Jong Un. The last thing China wants are large scale nuclear weapons right next door. Sanctions placed on the border by China and Russia have been very helpful. Great relationship with Chairman Kim!,' the president tweeted.
He concluded with: 'Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!'
Trump and Kim will meet Wednesday and Thursday in Hanoi. Kim left for their summit via train while Trump flies out Monday.
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On the agenda is denuclearization.
Washington is looking for concrete steps from North Korean that progress has been made on that front after Kim pledged to eliminate his country's nuclear weapons' program at his and Trump's first summit in Singapore last summer.
Trump said last week that North Korea must do 'something that's meaningful' on denuclearization before he would consider lifting economic sanctions.
North Korea has pushed for those sanctions to be reduced before it makes major changes to its nuclear program.
Trump insisted all of last year that crippling sanctions would not be lifted until Pyongyang had submitted to complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization requirements.
Nuclear weapons are banned by the United Nations, and North Korea has been in violation of treaties barring tests for decades.
Trump claims to be one of the greatest dealmakers of his time and has repeatedly committed to leaving American troops in South Korea and economic sanctions in place until North Korea follows through on its commitment in Singapore last June to get rid of its nuclear arsenal.
Troop removal is 'not a subject of discussions' at this time, a senior official told reporters on Thursday.
Trump and Kim shake hands after their first summit in Singapore in June of 2018
North Korean, U.S.A and Vietnamese flags are flown in Hanoi as the city prepares for the upcoming Trump-Kim summit
In a call, the official wouldn't say what else the U.S. or North Korea may have committed to in the interim, telling reporters, 'We are in the midst of negotiating on some issues, and as is often the case in these negotiations, nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to.
'I would not want to mention any of the specifics except to say that we will be closely engaged with the North Korean delegation right up until the President arrives for the summit next week,' the person said.
Meanwhile, Trump offered praise to Xi ahead of his Asia trip, a move that comes after his comments on Friday, when he said there was 'a very good chance' the United States would strike a deal with China to end their trade war and that he was inclined to extend his March 1 deadline to reach an agreement.
U.S. and Chinese negotiators had made progress and would continue this week's round of negotiations through the weekend, Trump told reporters in the White House as he met his top negotiators and their counterpart, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He.
'I think that we both feel there's a very good chance a deal will happen,' Trump said.
Extending the deadline would mean Trump would put on hold a scheduled tariff increase to 25 percent from 10 percent on $200 billion of Chinese imports into the United States.
That would prevent a further escalation in a trade war that has already disrupted commerce in goods worth hundreds of billions of dollars, slowed global economic growth and roiled markets.
