WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on President Donald Trump’s planned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says North Korea could benefit from American investment and technology if it denuclearizes.
Pompeo says it’s something he spoke about in general terms with Kim Jong Un, whom he has met twice since April.
Pompeo says if “we get the denuclearization right, then America would be quite capable of delivering them with lots of things that would make life better for the North Korean people.”
The top U.S. diplomat was speaking to reporters at the State Department amid uncertainty over whether a U.S.-North Korea summit will go ahead as planned on June 12. The North has accused the U.S. of a “one-sided demand” that it give up its nukes.
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4:10 p.m.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the U.S. is still working toward holding a historic summit with North Korea on June 12.
Pompeo was speaking Tuesday after President Donald Trump met with the leader of South Korea and told reporters his face-to-face with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in Singapore could be delayed.
Pompeo says the State Department and White House are continuing to make sure they are “fully prepared” for a summit with the same aims: achieving the denuclearization of North Korea and creating conditions so it no longer threatens the world.
He is declining to estimate the likelihood of the Trump-Kim meeting happening.
Pompeo has met with Kim twice in Pyongyang, the highest-ranking U.S. official to do so since 2000.
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12:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he doesn’t like the change in attitude he’s picked up from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said Tuesday that he detected a shift after Kim and Chinese President Xi Jinping (shee jihn-peeng) met for a second time in China. Trump says he hopes China isn’t influencing Kim.
Trump and Kim are scheduled to meet June 12 in Singapore. Trump now says the meeting could be delayed.
The U.S. and China have been negotiating over China’s large trade imbalance with the U.S. Trump is also leaning on China to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.
Kim had South Korean officials inform the White House that he wanted to meet with Trump, but he recently balked in the face of U.S. demands for North Korea’s complete denuclearization.
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12:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump says the planned Singapore summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “may not work out for June 12” and is suggesting it could be delayed.
Trump is meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) on Tuesday at the White House for consultations ahead of the planned June 12 summit with Kim in Singapore.
The meeting is happening as efforts to build peace between the two Koreas have hit a setback.
North Korea pulled out of planned peace talks with South Korea last week, objecting to long-scheduled joint military exercises between the U.S. and the Republic of Korea forces.
North Korea has also threatened to abandon the planned Trump-Kim meeting over the U.S. insistence on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
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12:20 p.m.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has opened talks with President Donald Trump on the U.S.-North Korea summit, saying the “fate and the future” of the Korean Peninsula hinges on it.
Trump welcomed Moon to the White House on Tuesday as they seek to coordinate strategy for Trump’s upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump says he and Moon will be discussing the planned summit in Singapore.
Moon says they are “one step closer” to the dream of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula.
Moon says he believes Kim is “serious” about the talks. He says North Korea has a chance to be a great country, and he is urging Kim to “seize this opportunity.”
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10:45 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence says no concessions have been given or offered to North Korea in the run-up to a June summit between the U.S. and Kim Jong Un.
Pence tells Fox News Radio on Tuesday that the U.S. remains open to the summit between President Donald Trump and Kim. Pence notes that the invitation to meet originated with Kim.
The meeting is scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, but Kim recently balked in the face of U.S. demands that he give up North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Pence says planning continues for the historic summit.
Trump and Pence are meeting later Tuesday at the White House with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
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10:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is still weeks away, but a colorful commemorative coin of the two leaders is ready to go.
The red-white-and-blue coin shows the two men in profile set against their countries’ flags. Printed along the edges are their names and countries, with the words “Peace Talks” written at the top.
The coin was issued by the White House Communications Agency, a military command responsible for the president’s global communications needs.
White House spokesman Raj Shah says the White House did “not have any input into the design and manufacture of the coin.” He says the agency has ordered souvenir travel coins since 2003, adding that the coins are ordered after a trip has been announced.
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Midnight
President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korea is drawing near, and there is growing anxiety among Trump and his allies over how he can score a victory on the world stage.
Trump has struggled to define his objectives for the historic sit-down scheduled for June 12 in Singapore. On Tuesday, he’s set to meet at the White House with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to prepare for the summit.
Senior administration officials say Trump has been focused on the summit’s pageantry. Three people with knowledge of the effort tell The Associated Press that the president hasn’t been deeply engaged in briefing materials on North Korea’s nuclear program. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
- By Associated Press writer Catherine Lucey
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