Trump Cancels Summit with North Korea, but Leaves the Door Open for a Future Meeting

In his letter sent to Kim Jong Un, the president blames the North Korean leader’s “hostile” statements, but blames China behind the scenes.

One day the White House unveils a commemorative coin for the historic summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un; the next day, it is cancelled. As is the way of politics in the era of Trump, who on Wednesday night told Fox News of his enthusiasm for the summit aimed at phasing out nuclear weapons from the peninsula, the president wrote to Kim the following morning to tell him that “the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.”

On Thursday, the price of the commemorative coin was discounted in the White House souvenir store. In any case, Trump did not like the depiction of his profile, as he thought it gave him a double chin. This does not mean that the June 12 summit is dead and buried; as one journalist quoted him a little later, “A lot can happen and a great opportunity lies ahead … Including the fact that, perhaps, it’s possible the existing summit could take place or a summit at some later date.”

He talked of both peace and threats of war. “Our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world … is ready if necessary,” he advertised. The president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, who visited Trump scarcely two days earlier, said he was “confused and deceived.” This was also noted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who, according to Trump, would take care of a “large part” of any military expenses that the cancelled summit might incur. “Hopefully positive things will be taking place with respect to the future of North Korea. But if they don’t, we are more ready than we have ever been before,” he told journalists.

Behind this erratic behavior lies much more than the adduced trigger. Trump blames “the tremendous angry and open hostility” displayed in recent statements from North Korea. In the past, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son Hui has described American Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy” for saying in an interview with Fox News that, if it does not reach a denuclearization agreement with the U.S., North Korea will end up like Libya, where the former dictator Moammar Gadhafi was lynched by his public.

This comparison with Libya annoyed the North Korean leader, who continues to make unilateral gestures of good will. On Thursday, he invited the international press to witness the destruction of the only nuclear testing facilities in his country. The journalists were still in North Korea when the White House sent the letter of cancelation to Kim, a situation that could have been exploited as an opportunity to take political hostages.

For Trump, instinct and advisers are telling him that it is China behind the perceived change of attitude in Pyongyang. This evening he blamed both the country and its leader, Xi Jinping, whom he called a “world class poker player.” According to his theory, China feels shut out of ongoing conversations and seeks to take advantage of its influence to gain more advantageous conditions in its trade negotiations with the U.S. Following Kim’s second visit to China, Trump claimed on Tuesday that “the Chinese attitude changed,”* adding “I can’t say I am happy about it.” He referred to this meeting as a visit that “nobody knew anything about, OK,” claiming that “the first thing anybody knew and quickly they reported he was in China for the second time, this isn’t a surprise.”*

In the game of poker that both sides of the Pacific are playing, the next move is Pyongyang’s. The rest of the world, meanwhile, holds its breath.**

*Editor’s note: This quote, accurately translated from the original, could not be verified. President Trump did complain that following Kim’s visit to China, Pyongyang’s attitude became less cooperative.

**Editor’s note: On June 1, President Trump announced that the meeting with Kim would take place on June 12 as originally scheduled.