White House Says Trump-Kim Meeting Contingent On ‘Concrete, Verifiable Actions’ By Pyongyang
President Trump will insist on “concrete, verifiable actions” from North Korea before holding a promised summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the White House said Friday, adding conditions and a note of skepticism to the buoyant mood that surrounded the surprise announcement the night before.
Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeated the insistence on “concrete, verifiable” steps several times, and asserted that the United States had given up no leverage in agreeing to hold the unprecedented meeting.
She was vague about exactly what that meant, and whether the United States would scrap the meeting if North Korea does not take actions toward getting rid of its nuclear weapons.
North Korea had also said talks would be about denuclearization, but it is not clear that Pyongyang agreed to do anything toward that end before a meeting that South Korea said would take place “by May.”
Trump’s agreement gave North Korea one thing it has wanted for decades: Public parity for its leader and the president of the United States.
