North Korean Officials to Deliver Letter From Kim, Trump Says
President stops short of saying summit is back on
President Donald Trump said Thursday he expects a North Korean delegation to hand-deliver a letter to him from Kim Jong Un — but he stopped short of saying their denuclearization summit is back on.
Trump expects the North Korean officials to be in Washington on Friday to deliver the letter. That delegation has been in New York, where senior North Korean officials met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Before he boarded Air Force One for a trip to Texas, where he will primarily focus on raising money for the Republican Party, the president told reporters the New York talks have gone “very well.”
Very good meetings with North Korea.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018
But he said he remains unsure that a deal to revive the on-then-off June 12 summit is near.
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On Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said U.S. officials “expect” the nuclear talks to happen in mid-June after Trump canceled the summit seven days ago.
“Things are headed in that direction,” a senior White House official said Wednesday when asked to clarify Sanders’ comment that White House officials “expect” the Kim Jong Un summit to go on as initially planned on June 12.
“It’s still too soon” to say the denuclearization summit is officially back on, the official said.
As Air Force One was taxiing toward takeoff, Trump also announced that he would issue a pardon for right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza, who was convicted in 2014 of campaign finance violations.
D’Souza “has been treated very unfairly by our government!” Trump tweeted.
D’Souza was convicted of using a “straw donor” for an illegal campaign donation.
Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018