After several days during which the president appeared to be signalling that secret negotiations ahead of his planned meeting for June 12 were not going well, he said he was pulling out of the meeting because of the “tremendous anger and open hostility” in a recent statement from Mr Kim. He called it a “missed opportunity” and “truly sad moment in history”.
It had been Mr Trump’s ambition to secure a peace deal with North Korea – something that none of his predecessors were able to do – and that has now apparently been placed on the back burner.
“I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” he said in a letter to North Korea which was made public. “Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.”
In a remark that may have reflected Mr Trump’s desire to see himself as the master negotiator, he appeared to leave open the window for a future meeting, if Mr Kim altered his mind. In such circumstances, he said, he hoped Mr Kim would contact him.
“Yet the letter also contained a threat that was barely veiled. “You talk about your nuclear capabilities but ours are massive and powerful and I hope they will never have to be used,” he said
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