President Donald Trump on Friday canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea, citing a lack of “sufficient progress” in denuclearization talks.
“I have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to go to North Korea, at this time, because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,” Trump tweeted Friday.
“Additionally,” he continued, “because of our much tougher Trading stance with China, I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place).”
The tweets come two months after Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met in Singapore. After the summit, held in June, the White House said the North had made firm pledges to rid itself of its nuclear weapons. The joint statement released after the event, however, was vague at best and provided no clear pathway for Kim to do so.
Earlier this month, White House national security adviser John Bolton said North Korea had done little to denuclearize.
“The United States has lived up to the Singapore declaration,” Bolton said during an interview on “Fox and Friends.” “It’s just North Korea that has not taken the steps we feel are necessary to denuclearize.”
The president had previously defended Kim’s intentions, tweeting that he was “confident” the leader would “honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake.”
In Friday’s tweets, Trump didn’t rule out future talks. He noted that Pompeo “looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved.”
“In the meantime I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim,” Trump wrote. “I look forward to seeing him soon!”
Nick Visser contributed to this report.