If Kim Jong Un meeting isn't working 'I will LEAVE' says Trump as he spells out plan for nuclear weapons summit with North Korean dictator

  • President Trump confirmed reports today that Mike Pompeo went to Pyongyang 
  • Trump said the 'meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed' between Kim and the man trying to become America's top diplomat 
  • President Trump confirmed Tuesday during a summit with the Japanese PM that he's still planning to meet with Kim in late May or early June
  • Says he won't go, though, if it doesn't seem fruitful, and he'll get up and leave in the middle if he senses the same thing 
  • Said Tuesday direct talks had taken place with North Korea at the highest levels
  • President hinted later that he was referring to a conversation with Kim 

President Donald Trump says he'll walk out of a meeting with Kim Jong-un if he feels that talks are unproductive. 

'If the meeting when I'm there is not fruitful, I will respectfully leave the meeting, and will continue what we're doing or whatever it is that will continue,' he said Wednesday during a news conference.

Trump said he hopes the meeting with Kim will be 'very successful.'

'If I think that it's a meeting that is not going to be fruitful, we're not going to go,' he asserted. 'But something will happen. So I like always remaining flexible, and will remain flexible here.'

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President Donald Trump says he'll walk out of a meeting with Kim Jong-un if he feels that talks are unproductive

President Donald Trump says he'll walk out of a meeting with Kim Jong-un if he feels that talks are unproductive

Trump this morning revealed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo met Kim in North Korea earlier this month.

Trump tweeted that the 'meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed' between Kim and America's chief spy.

At a luncheon in the afternoon, Trump said that Pompeo 'had a great meeting with Kim Jong un, and got along with him really well' because Pompeo 'is that kind of a guy.' 

Yesterday, Trump set off alarm bells when he said the United States had engaged in 'extremely high level' talks with North Korea, later hinting that they go all the way up to Kim. 

His comments at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday night came just before reports emerged that Pompeo had secretly visited Pyongyang to meet with Kim. 

Trump had strongly suggested earlier in the day that someone from the U.S. had spoken to Kim in preparation for a planned summit between the two leaders, and it might even be him. 

Asked by reporters as he walked into dinner with Japanese Prime Minister Abe who the senior North Korean officials are that the U.S. is speaking with and if he'd personally talked directly to Kim, Trump stopped dead in his tracks, grinned and told them, 'yes.'  

President Trump gave secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo his full-throated support on Wednesday as a clandestine trip he took to North Korea came under scrutiny

President Trump gave secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo his full-throated support earlier on Wednesday as a clandestine trip he took to North Korea came under scrutiny

The president confirmed in a tweet that the CIA director Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang

The president confirmed in a tweet that the CIA director Mike Pompeo visited Pyongyang

He rolled back the apparent confirmation a few minutes later in another encounter with press, creating confusion about what he'd originally meant.

'Well let's leave it a little bit short of that,' Trump said of direct talks with Kim the second time around. 'But we have talks at the highest level, and it's going very well, but we'll see what happens.' 

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders immediately sent out a statement clarifying that the talks were not with Kim himself.

'The President said the administration has had talks at the highest levels and added that they were not with him directly,' she said.

The president did not, however, tell reporters that the talks weren't with Kim. He merely said, 'Let's leave it a little bit short of that.'

A half hour later, the Washington Post reported that the CIA director went on a clandestine mission to North Korea to meet with Kim over Easter weekend.

President Trump, pictured on Tuesday evening having dinner with Melania, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie said yesterday that the United States has engaged in 'extremely high level' talks with North Korea and hinted they go all the way up to reclusive dictator Kim Jong-un

President Trump, pictured on Tuesday evening having dinner with Melania, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie said yesterday that the United States has engaged in 'extremely high level' talks with North Korea and hinted they go all the way up to reclusive dictator Kim Jong-un

Half an hour after Trump's comments, it was reported that Mike Pompeo (pictured), the CIA director and Secretary of State nominee, had traveled to North Korea to meet with Kim Jon-un over the Easter weekend
Trump had strongly suggested Tuesday that someone from the U.S. had spoken to Kim in preparation for a planned summit between the two leaders, and it might even be him

Half an hour after Trump's comments, a report said Mike Pompeo (left), the CIA director and Secretary of State nominee, had traveled to North Korea to meet with Kim Jon-un (right) over the Easter weekend

Trump said during a working lunch at Mar-a-Lago with the U.S, and Japanese delegations Wednesday that he expected Pomepo's nomination to pass the U.S. Senate

Trump said during a working lunch at Mar-a-Lago with the U.S, and Japanese delegations that he expected Pomepo's nomination to pass the U.S. Senate

Asked by reporters as they entered the dinner who the senior North Korean officials are that the U.S. is speaking with and if he'd spoken directly to 'him,' Trump stopped dead in his tracks, grinned and told them, 'yes', before rolling the apparent confirmation that he'd personally spoken to Kim back

Asked by reporters as they entered the dinner who the senior North Korean officials are that the U.S. is speaking with and if he'd spoken directly to 'him,' Trump stopped dead in his tracks, grinned and told them, 'yes', before rolling the apparent confirmation that he'd personally spoken to Kim back

Sanders in a follow up statement did not deny that the trip had taken place.

She simply said: 'The administration does not comment on the CIA Director's travel.'

Trump overruled his press secretary this morning and confirmed the trip outright.

'Meeting went very smoothly and a good relationship was formed,' he tweeted. 'Details of Summit are being worked out now. Denuclearization will be a great thing for World, but also for North Korea!' 

Pompeo has been paving the way for an expected meeting between Trump and Kim.

The CIA director has a close relationship with the president, unlike former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who Trump fired last month in a tweet a few days after agreeing to an invitation from Kim to meet. 

Trump immediately tapped Pompeo to replace Tillerson. 

At a confirmation hearing last week that would have taken place after his trip to Pyongyang, Pompeo told senators on the Foreign Relations Committee that he was 'optimistic that the United States government can set the conditions for that appropriately so that the president and the North Korean leader' can have a conversation that 'will set us down the course of achieving a diplomatic outcome that...America and the world so desperately need.'

Referring to the testimony on Wednesday, Sen. Bob Menendez, the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, scolded Pompeo for not being forthright with him even in their private talks about his Easter weekend tete-a-tete with Kim. 

'After committing to transparency in his opening statement, he was not forthcoming when I questioned him about his involvement in the Russia investigation and I can tell you even his private conversations with me he didn't tell me about his visit to North Korea,' Menendez said at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington. 

The president confirmed Tuesday that a face-to-face meeting between himself and Kim was still on track to take place in the next few weeks.

'I look forward to meeting with Kim Jong-un. And hopefully that will be a success. And maybe it will be, and maybe it won't be. We don't know,' Trump said. 'But I can say this: They do respect us. We are respectful of them. And we're going to see what happens.'

Unless negotiations go offer the rails, Trump said the talk wold take place in late May or early June in one of five undisclosed locations he said are under consideration.

'We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels, with North Korea. And I really believe there's a lot of good will,' the U.S. president said. 'As I always say, we'll see what happens. Because ultimately, it's the end result that counts.'

Locations under discussion were thought to include Beijing, Geneva and Panmunjom, a city inside the Demilitarized Zone. 

Sweden has also offered to assist with a meeting, and Mongolia's former president recommended his country's summit city, Ulaanbaatar. 

Trump said Washington had been ruled out, affirming experts' expectations that the meeting would not take place on either of the leaders' home turf. 

US President Donald Trump greets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he arrives for talks at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday

DEATH GRIP: President Trump yanked Abe in for one of his famous locked and loaded handshakes 

DEATH GRIP: President Trump yanked Abe in for one of his famous locked and loaded handshakes 

Trump said scheduled talks with Kim are on track for late May or early June as he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago for a two-day summit

Trump said during the joint appearance that the U.S. and Japan 'are locked and we are very unified' in their approach to North Korea

Trump commented on the scheduled talks with Kim on Tuesday as he hosted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Mar-a-Lago for a two-day summit.

Trump said Japan and the U.S. are 'locked and we are very unified' when it comes to North Korea.  

He delivered the remarks after welcoming Abe to his Palm Beach property for an afternoon meeting that both he and the Japanese leader said yielded great progress on the trade and security issues at hand.

'On those two points, we actually successfully forged a mutual understanding,' Abe said. 'So I'm very happy to see the outcome of our one-on-one discussion.'     

Abe commended Trump on Tuesday for having the 'courage' to meet with Kim.  

Still, he said he wanted to 'underscore the importance of achieving the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization, as well as the abandonment of missile programs of North Korea' in their talks. 

US President Donald Trump greets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he arrives for talks at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach on Tuesday

US President Donald Trump greets Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he arrives for talks at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach on Tuesday

Conversation today with Abe centered on global security and trade will pick back up Thursday and apex with a joint press conference.

Conversation today with Abe centered on global security and trade will pick back up Thursday and apex with a joint press conference.

Summit is taking place in Florida at Trump's private, for-profit club, Mar-a-Lago

Summit is taking place in Florida at Trump's private, for-profit club, Mar-a-Lago

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