President Donald Trump has left Vietnam without the nuclear deal he was hoping to strike with North Korean Kim Jong Un — a stinging result for a president seeking a foreign policy win to carry into 2020.
The two sides appeared on the cusp of signing an agreement on some incremental nuclear disarmament vows, but scuttled those plans at the last minute.
“It was about sanctions,” Trump said in a press conference shortly after the White House announced the summit with North Korea would be cut short.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety,” he added. “They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that.”
It was an unexpected 180 degree turn at a summit that seemed to be moving toward a deal that Trump would portray as a major victory — another stump speech line for his rallies as the 2020 presidential race heats up. Instead, he found himself having to explain to the media at a hurried-up press conference why the two sides had come away empty handed. It’s a result likely to complicate the positive narrative Trump has been promoting about his overtures to North Korea, a country the international community has long isolated over Pyongyang’s repeated military provocations and repression of its own population.
“Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said, noting later, “We actually had papers ready to be signed. But it just wasn’t appropriate.”
Trump and Kim had been scheduled to hold a signing ceremony Thursday afternoon for their expected deal. But the event was called off less than two hours ahead of time, and Trump moved up his departure time from Vietnam.
White House officials stressed that the two sides would keep talking and both the president and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that considerable progress was made over the last two days. Pompeo said he hoped the two sides would reconnect in the coming weeks, but Trump said he had “not committed” to a third summit.
“I think everyone had hoped we could do a little bit better,” Pompeo said.
Negotiators apparently couldn’t agree on which nuclear sites North Korea had to dismantle before the U.S. would lift economic sanctions. Trump said Kim was willing to destroy the Yongbyon facility, the heart of North Korea’s nuclear-fuel program, but would not agree to destroy other facilities that the U.S. wants eradicated.
“We asked him to do more,” Pompeo noted. “He was unprepared to do that.”
Trump had spent the morning in Hanoi setting expectations for the event, repeatedly stressing that he was “in no rush” to force North Korea to denuclearize.
“Speed is not that important to me as long as there’s no testing,” Trump said Thursday morning in Vietnam, referencing Pyongyang’s halt of missile tests. At one point, Trump reiterated the phrase “no rush” several times in a row.
“Over the years, I’m sure we’ll be together a lot,” he added.
