President Trump said Thursday he trusts North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will not resume testing missile and nuclear warheads despite their failure to reach a denuclearization agreement at their second summit.
“One of the things, importantly, that Chairman Kim promised me last night is, regardless, he’s not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear,” Trump said during a press conference in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Not going to do testing. So I trust him, and I take him at his word. I hope that’s true.”
{mosads}Asked again later about whether he’s worried testing will resume, Trump said, “He said the testing will not start.”
“He said that he’s not going to do testing of rockets or missiles or anything having to do with nuclear, and all I can tell you is that’s what he said, and we’ll see,” Trump added.
Trump was speaking after he and Kim failed to reach an agreement during their two-day summit in Hanoi. Trump said the main sticking point was Kim’s demand that sanctions be lifted.
It has been more than 400 days since North Korea conducted its last nuclear or missile test, a fact often seized upon by Trump when he touts the success of diplomatic efforts with Kim.
Trump has previously said he is in “no rush” to reach an agreement so long as the testing does not resume, a stance that’s a turnaround from his administration’s previous goal to have North Korea take major steps toward denuclearization by the end of Trump’s first term.
“I don’t want to rush anybody,” Trump said in a speech Sunday. “I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy.”