Trump on possibility of November North Korea-U.S. summit: “I don’t know”

[Financial News]  

U.S. President Donald Trump said on the 19th (local time), when asked whether he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in China next month, “I don’t know.” He neither confirmed nor denied speculation that he might meet Kim at next month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China.
At the White House that day, Trump told reporters, “I don’t know either,” when asked, “Do you think you could meet the North Korean leader in China next month?” He added, “I get along very well with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” and emphasized, “I’m not sure everyone wants a meeting, but my relationship with Kim Jong Un is very good.”
Trump had previously urged Kim to resume talks between North Korea and the United States without preconditions. On the 12th, when asked whether he might meet Kim in connection with his attendance at the APEC summit, he said, “That could happen,” adding that if a meeting took place, “it would be exciting.”
Despite these repeated messages about a summit, North Korea did not respond, and Trump appears to have ultimately lowered his expectations for a meeting to take place.
Trump has repeatedly cited a specific number of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, effectively treating the country’s status as a nuclear-armed state as a fait accompli, and has confidently said he would meet Kim “within the year.” But he is now seen as having effectively given up on the prospect of a meeting within the year.

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