WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on U.S. government reaction to the death of American student Otto Warmbier, who had been held in North Korea (all times local):
3 p.m.
President Donald Trump says that he appreciates China’s efforts to exert pressure on North Korea, but “it has not worked out.”
Trump tweeted Tuesday, “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!”
His tweet comes a day after learning that Otto Warmbier, an American student who was returned from North Korea to the U.S. in a coma last week, had died.
Trump said Tuesday that it was a “total disgrace” what happened to Warmbier, but doctors and the administration haven’t offered an explanation for the student’s condition preceding his death.
Trump has called repeatedly on China to help exert pressure on North Korea, particularly with regard to its nuclear ambitions.
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2:41 p.m.
The Trump administration is considering banning travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea, officials said Tuesday, as outrage grew over the death of American student Otto Warmbier and President Donald Trump declared it a “total disgrace.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has the authority to cut off travel to North Korea with the stroke of the pen, has been weighing such a move since late April, when American teacher Tony Kim was detained in Pyongyang, a senior State Department official said. No ban is imminent, but deliberations gained new urgency after Warmbier’s death, said the official, who requested anonymity to discuss internal diplomatic discussions.
-By Josh Lederman
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11:39 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the death of a 22-year-old college student who was detained for nearly a year and a half in North Korea is a “total disgrace.”
The president says if Otto Warmbier had been returned home to the U.S. earlier, “I think the result would have been a lot different.”
Trump spoke briefly about Warmbier during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Ukraine.
Trump says he spoke with Warmbier’s parents and says it’s “incredible what they’ve gone through.”
Trump adds, “he should have been brought home a long time ago.”
The college student died shortly after his return to Ohio after being held for more than 17 months.
Warmbier’s parents haven’t cited a cause of death, but “awful, torturous mistreatment” by North Korea.
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12:40 p.m.
Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee says the U.S. government should consider banning Americans from visiting North Korea.
He’s tells The Associated Press that “It puts us in a really precarious situation when Americans are detained” in North Korea.
Corker is the Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
The U.S. and North Korea have no diplomatic relations. The U.S. is pressing Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons development and urging China and other countries to starve the North of funding for the program. The secret negotiations over Warmbier’s release are some of the only known direct contacts between the nations in recent years.
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