No Deal as Donald Trump-Kim Jong-un Summit Meeting Ends Early

By Patrick Frater

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – The summit meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un finished earlier than expected Thursday. The White House said that no deal had been reached.

“The two leaders discussed various ways to advance de-nuclearization and economic-driven concepts…No agreement was reached at this time, but their respective teams look forward to meeting in the future,” the White House said in a statement.

“Basically it was about the sanctions,” Trump said at a press conference, explaining that North Korea wanted sanctions lifted in their entirety before a deal could be completed. “They were willing to give some areas, but not the ones we wanted.”

The two men on Wednesday began their second summit together in less than a year in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The summit was intended to bring about North Korea’s de-nuclearization, and possibly provide a formal end to the Korean War.

After an informal meeting followed by a dinner Wednesday evening, the summit talks were expected to run through much of Thursday local time. The pair were set for a working lunch Thursday, possibly followed by a joint signing ceremony. Trump was scheduled to hold a solo press conference at 3:40 p.m. local time.

In a pre-lunch statement, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that talks would wrap in the next 30 minutes, and that the lunch had been canceled. She said that Trump would hold a press conference at his hotel, at 2 p.m. local time. Both men drove off in their motorcades from the Metropole Hotel, where the talks had been held, at around 1:25 p.m.

The two men previously met last June in Singapore. That historic summit ended with some back-slapping and fine words, but little solid progress.

At his solo press conference, Trump answered a question about the testimony given to a Congressional committee Wednesday by his former attorney Michael Cohen, labeling Cohen’s testimony as “incorrect.” “Having a fake hearing in the middle of this important summit is incredible….He lied a lot,” Trump said.