Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un won’t be piece of theatre, says CIA boss

Donald Trump has agreed to a historic first meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
AFP/Getty Images
David Gardner12 March 2018

America's spy chief insists Donald Trump has his eyes “wide open” to the risks of a face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

CIA director Mike Pompeo also said the president “isn’t doing this for theatre, he is going there to solve a problem”.

Critics have warned the planned summit - the first ever meeting between a sitting US president and North Korean leader - could backfire if negotiations fail.

But Mr Pompeo said it is the perfect time to open talks as the Pyongyang regime has been battered by US sanctions.

President Donald Trump wants 'concrete action' on North Korea promise to 'denuclearise'
REUTERS

“Never before have we had the North Koreans in a position where their economy was at such risk, where their leadership was under such pressure,” he told Fox News.

By accepting the North’s offer for talks Mr Trump even took his own administration by surprise. But Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin also backed the gamble last night, stressing the “clear” objective was to get rid of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula.

The US was confident there would not be a missile or nuclear test ahead of a meeting, he added.

CIA director Mike Pompeo
AFP/Getty Images

South Korean envoys were today briefing the Chinese and Japanese governments on the proposed negotiations amid concern on Capitol Hill that Mr Trump may be in over his head.

Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren said she feared the “decimated” US state department lacked officials familiar with North Korea’s methods.

Last month Mr Trump put forward a proposal to slash state department funding by a quarter from about $53.1 billion (£38.3 billion) a year to $39.3 billion (£28.3 billion). More than a year after his election he is yet to nominate about 30 ambassadors — including a permanent one for South Korea.

The US and North Korea do not have formal diplomatic relations.

Ms Warren said: “I want to see our president succeed because if he succeeds, America succeeds. The world is safer. But I am very worried that they’re going to take advantage of him.”

No date or place has been set for the meeting with Kim, despite initial reports it would be by the end of May. At a weekend rally for a Republican candidate in Pennsylvania the president said: “Hey, who knows what’s going to happen? I may leave fast or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world.”

Mr Trump’s administration has proposed “rigorous” weapons training for some teachers and school staff following the Florida school shooting that left 17 dead. But it appeared to backtrack on his claim that he would support raising the minimum age for buying guns from 18 to 21.

The White House also plans to back legislation to improve criminal background checks on gun buyers. Education secretary Betsy DeVos will chair a commission to recommend policy. It follows last month’s deadly attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School by former student Nikolas Cruz, 19.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in