Trump tweeted out the invitation, telling reporters he had ‘just thought’ of extending the invitation ‘this morning.’
OSAKA, Japan — President Donald Trump on Friday tweeted an offer to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
“After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea (with President Moon). While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” Trump wrote Saturday morning local time.
Trump was scheduled to spend Saturday and Sunday in South Korea, meeting with its president Moon Jae-in. The South China Morning Post previously reported that Trump was considering a trip to the heavily fortified border, but a summit with the North Korean leader was not publicly in the works. Trump planned to visit the DMZ during a 2017 trip to South Korea, but canceled at the last moment due to weather.
Minutes after sending the tweet, Trump told reporters that he had “just thought” of extending the invitation “this morning.”
But the president had apparently told The Hill on Monday that he “might” want to meet Kim at the DMZ, a fact the White House asked the publication to withhold out of security concerns.
Trump made his interest public Saturday morning in Japan with his tweet, which also publicly revealed for the first time his plans to visit the DMZ on Sunday.
“We’ll be there and I just put out a feeler,” Trump told reporters ahead of a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit of the world’s largest economies. “I don’t know where [Kim] is right now, he may not be in North Korea.”
“I’m in no rush whatsoever ever,” Trump added. “I will be in South Korea, I let him know.”
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Donald Trump tweeted an offer to meet with Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea https://t.co/gtK0cW26U1
— POLITICO (@politico) June 28, 2019
What the actual hell https://t.co/IEhVt7Asq1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 28, 2019
The President of the United States just pleaded with the dictator of North Korea to maybe see his tweet here on Twitter and maybe just meet him for a handshake, you know, if he's around.
Every time I think this administration cannot become more pathetic, he tweets.
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 28, 2019
There is depth to which he will not stoop, no humiliation too great, to be affirmed by men he thinks are tougher than he is. https://t.co/DGw3gfqCHg
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) June 30, 2019
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