President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States had not conclusively heard from North Korea about whether or not they wanted to cancel Kim Jong-un’s meeting with the president.
“We haven’t seen anything, we haven’t heard anything. We will see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday afternoon during a meeting with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Trump repeated that “We’ll have to see,” when asked by multiple reporters if the meeting was still happening.
“We haven’t been notified at all. We’ll have to see,” he said, adding that, “Time will tell.”
When asked if he would still seek denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Trump replied, “Yes.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said earlier on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s administration remained hopeful that the meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un would take place in June, as previously announced.
“This is something we fully expected,” Sanders told reporters on the White House driveway on Wednesday morning. “The president is very used to and ready for tough negotiations and if they want to meet, we’ll be ready. If they don’t, that’s ok too and we’ll continue with campaign of maximum pressure.”
Sanders downplayed a statement made by White House National Security advisor John Bolton describing the “Libya 2004 model” for North Korea of total denuclearization, describing the negotiation process the “President Trump model.”
“We’re still hopeful it takes place,” Sanders said.