President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong Un, scolding the North Korean leader in a letter for “tremendous anger and open hostility” while also bluntly reminding Kim of the United States’ nuclear prowess.
The scuttling of the meeting, which had been scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, is a blow to U.S. efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, as well as Trump’s desire to land a legacy-making deal with the hermetic nation.
It also raises the risk of conflict in East Asia and has rattled U.S. allies South Korea and Japan.
“Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote in the letter, which a senior White House official said was dictated entirely by the president.
Trump and his aides sought to pin the blame for the canceled summit entirely on North Korea.
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