President Donald Trump said Thursday he was willing to host Kim Jong-un at the White House, provided the planned summit in Singapore goes well on June 12.
“The answer is yes,” Trump said to reporters who asked the president if he was willing to invite Kim Jong-un to the United States. “I think it would be well-received. I think he will look at it favorably so I think that could happen.”
But Trump also signaled that he was “totally prepared to walk away” from the planned summit if it looked bad for the United States.
“I did it once before,” he said. “You have to be able to walk away.”
He commented that former President Barack Obama’s administration did not walk away from the Iran deal, ending in a bad deal for the United States.
The president made his remarks during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House ahead of a summit in Singapore with Kim. The two leaders addressed reporters in the Rose Garden.
“I’m prepared to walk. It could happen, maybe it won’t be necessary. I hope it won’t be necessary to walk,” he said.