Your Public Square Disclosing what is True, what is Real
Press Conference by President Trump: June 12, 2018
You know, he brought up the fact that, in the past, they took dialogue far - they never went - they never were like we are. There's never been anything like what's taken place now. But they went down the line. Billions of dollars were given, and you know, the following day the nuclear program continued. But this is a much different time, and this is a much different President, in all fairness. This is very important to me. This is one of the - perhaps, one of the reasons that I - one, I campaigned on this issue, as you know very well, John.
Okay. Whoever those people are. I cannot see you with all the lights, but you don't look like either of the two. Yeah, go ahead. Sure. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. And first of all, congratulations.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Q Can you touch on the issue of a peace treaty? And also, will you travel to Pyongyang anytime soon?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, at a certain time, I will. I said that will be a day that I look very much forward to, at the appropriate time. And I also will be inviting Chairman Kim, at the appropriate time, to the White House. I think it's really going to be something that will be very important. And he has accepted. I said, at the appropriate time. We want to go a little bit further down the road.
But what we signed today was a lot of things included. And then you have things that weren't included that we got after the deal was signed. I've done that before in my life. We didn't put it in the agreement because we didn't have time. And I think most of you have been handed out the agreement or soon will. But I -
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, you have not? Okay. Well, if you could have those agreements passed out. We just finished them, just a little while ago. But if you could have the agreements passed out, we'll - you'll see what we're talking about.
Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Q I will second the congratulations, President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q What part did Japan play? And did the abduction issue come up?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q And also, the fate of the Christians?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q And the follow-up question is when will you be doing an interview with Japanese TV? Fifty-thousand American troops are in Japan. Congratulations, again.
THE PRESIDENT: That's true. Fifty-thousand great troops. That's true. Yeah, it did - abduction. Absolutely. This is Prime Minister Abe's - one of his, certainly - other than the whole denuking subject - certainly his, I would say, his main point. And I brought it up. Absolutely. And they're going to be working on that. It will be - we didn't put it down in the document, but it will be worked on.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Christians, yes. We are - brought it up very strongly. You know, Franklin Graham spent - spent and spends a tremendous amount of time in North Korea. He's got it very close to his heart. It did come up, and things will be happening. Okay? Thank you. Great question.
Yes, Jon. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jon.
Q Returning to the question of human rights, you spoke very powerfully on the issue during your State of the Union Address. You showed that - you had the defector in the First Lady's box with the crutches, who escaped. And you, at that point, said that North Korea has more brutally oppressed its people than any other regime on Earth. Do you still believe that is the case having sat down with Kim Jong Un? And does he need to change that?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Jon, I believe it's a rough situation over there. There's no question about it. And we did discuss it today pretty strongly. I mean, knowing what the main purpose of what we were doing is: denuking. But discussed it at pretty good length. We'll be doing something on it. It's rough. It's rough in a lot of places, by the way. Not just there. But it's rough, and we will continue that. And I think, ultimately, we'll agree to something. But it was discussed at length outside of the nuclear situation, one of the primary topics.
Q But do you think that needs to change to bring on this glorious new era you've talked about? Are they going to have to -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it will change. Yeah. I think it probably has to, but I think it will. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Steve. That's you, Steve? Right there.
Q Yes, sir. Thank you. What timetable do you envision for their denuclearization? And in the meantime, are you thinking about easing any sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, scientifically, I've been watching and reading a lot about this, and it does take a long time to pull off complete denuclearization. It takes a long time. Scientifically, you have to wait certain periods of time, and a lot of things happen. But...
Q Having sat down with Kim Jong Un. And does he have to change that?
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, I believe it's a rough situation over there. There's no question about it. And we did discuss it today pretty strongly. I mean, knowing what - the main purpose of what we were doing is: denuking. But discussed at pretty good length. We'll be doing something on it. It's rough. It's rough in a lot of places, by the way - not just there. But it's rough. And we will continue that, and I think, ultimately, we'll agree to something. But it was discussed at length. Outside of - outside of the nuclear situation, one of the primary topics.
Q But do you think that needs to change to bring on this glorious new era you've talked about? Are they going to have to -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it will change, yeah. I think it probably has to. But I think it will. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Steve? That's you, Steve? Right there.
Q Yes, sir. Thank you. What timetable do you envision for their denuclearization? And in the meantime, are you thinking about easing any sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, scientifically, I've been watching and reading a lot about this, and it does take a long time to pull off complete denuclearization. It takes a long time. Scientifically, you have to wait certain periods of time, and a lot of things happen. But despite that, once you start the process, it means it's pretty much over; you can't use them. That's the good news. And that's going to start very - very soon. I believe that's going to start very soon. We will do it as fast as it can mechanically and physically be done, Steve.
Q And the sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: The sanctions will come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor. Sanctions played a big role, but they'll come off at that point. I hope it's going to be soon, but they'll come off. As you know, and as I've said, the sanctions right now remain. But at a certain point, I actually look forward to taking them off. And they'll come off when we know we're down the road - where it's not going to happen, nothing is going to happen. Okay?
Yes, go ahead. Please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Congratulations on this historic summit.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Congratulations to everybody, by the way. Congratulations to everybody.
Go ahead.
Q You signed a document with Kim Jong Un. It's essentially a piece of paper. Yesterday, we had a briefing from the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He said the following: "Many Presidents previously have signed off on pieces of paper only to find that the North Koreans either didn't promise what we thought they had, or actually reneged on those promises." What makes this time different, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you have a different administration. You have a different President. You have a different Secretary of State. You have people that are - you know, it's very important to them. And we get it done. The other groups, maybe it wasn't a priority. I don't think they could have done it if it was a priority, frankly. I don't think they honestly could have done it even if it was a priority.
And it would have been easier back then. It would have been - for me, it would have been much easier if this were 10 years ago or 5 years ago. And I'm not just blaming President Obama. I mean, this goes back - for 25 years, this should have happened. I was given a very tough hand. I was given this, I was given the Iran deal, and plenty of other problems.
But we are - we're doing really well. And the Iran deal, I have to be honest, I did it because nuclear is always number one to me. Nuclear is number one.
But on the Iran deal, I think Iran is a different country now than it was three or four months ago. I don't think they're looking so much to the Mediterranean. I don't think they're looking so much at Syria, like they were, with total confidence. I don't think they're so confident right now.
But I hope - with that being said, I hope that, at the appropriate time, after these sanctions kick in - and they are brutal, what we've put on Iran - I hope that they're going to come back and negotiate a real deal, because I'd love to be able to do that. But right now, it's too soon for that.
Yes, please.
Q Mr. President, you also didn't talk about establishing diplomatic relations, exchanging ambassadors. How long before that happens?
THE PRESIDENT: Good question. Hopefully soon. But we'll have to get things moving first. Very - a little bit early for that. We have to get things moving.
Yes, go ahead. Hi.
Q Can you clarify, when you said you were stopping "war games," so you are stopping the military exercises with South Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we've done exercises for a long period of time, working with South Korea. And we call them "war games," and I call them "war games." And they're tremendously expensive. The amount of money that we spend on that is incredible. And South Korea contributes, but not 100 percent, which is certainly a subject that we have to talk to them about also. And that has to do with the military expense and also the trade.
So we're doing that. We actually have a new deal with South Korea, in terms of the trade deal, but we have to talk to them. We have to talk to many countries about treating us fairly.
But the war games are very expensive. We pay for a big majority of them. We fly in bombers from Guam. I said - when I first started, I said, "Where do the bombers come from?" "Guam. Nearby." I said, "Oh, great, nearby. Where's nearby?" "Six and a half hours." Six and a half hours - that's a long time for these big massive planes to be flying to South Korea to practice and then drop bombs all over the place, and then go back to Guam. I know a lot about airplanes; it's very expensive. And I didn't like it.
And what I did say is - and I think it's very provocative, I have to tell you, Jennifer, it's a very provocative situation when I see that, and you have a country right next door. So under the circumstances that we are negotiating a very comprehensive, complete deal, I think it's inappropriate to be having war games.
So, number one, we save money - a lot. And number two, it really is something that I think they very much appreciate it.
Q Does North Korea give you something in return, though?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we've gotten - you know, I've heard that. I mean, some of the people that - I don't know, maybe they really mean it. I don't always want to go against the press because I just don't - especially not today, this is too important. But I noticed that some of the people were saying that the President has agreed to meet, he has given up so much. I gave up nothing. I'm here. I haven't slept in 25 hours, but I thought it was appropriate to do - because we have been negotiating for literally around the clock with them, and with us, and with John, and with Mike, and a whole team of very talented people.
But we haven't given up anything, other than - you're right, I agreed to meet. And I think the meeting was every bit as good for the United States as it was for North Korea. But I just wrote down some of the things we got. And they - you know, they - sure, they got a meeting. But only a person that dislikes Donald Trump would say that I've agreed to make a big commitment.
Sure, I've agreed to take a period of time and come here and meet, and that's good. But I think it's great for us, as a country, and I think it's good for them.
But what did they do to justify this meeting? Secured commitment for complete denuclearization; that's the big thing. They secured the release of three American hostages. They already gave them to us two months ago. These people are now living happily back in their homes, with their families. And it was pretty rough for them, to put it mildly.
Secure the commitment to recover the remains, including - these are of fallen heroes. And they're giving a commitment, they're starting it immediately, to recover their remains. And I just went through how many people asked me about it. I was amazed, actually. So many people would ask me, "Is it possible? Is it possible?" At that time we had no relationship to Chairman Kim or to anybody else in North Korea. You know, it was a very closed society. So we're getting the remains back.
Go Back
Okay. Whoever those people are. I cannot see you with all the lights, but you don't look like either of the two. Yeah, go ahead. Sure. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. And first of all, congratulations.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Q Can you touch on the issue of a peace treaty? And also, will you travel to Pyongyang anytime soon?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, at a certain time, I will. I said that will be a day that I look very much forward to, at the appropriate time. And I also will be inviting Chairman Kim, at the appropriate time, to the White House. I think it's really going to be something that will be very important. And he has accepted. I said, at the appropriate time. We want to go a little bit further down the road.
But what we signed today was a lot of things included. And then you have things that weren't included that we got after the deal was signed. I've done that before in my life. We didn't put it in the agreement because we didn't have time. And I think most of you have been handed out the agreement or soon will. But I -
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, you have not? Okay. Well, if you could have those agreements passed out. We just finished them, just a little while ago. But if you could have the agreements passed out, we'll - you'll see what we're talking about.
Yes, sir. Go ahead.
Q I will second the congratulations, President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q What part did Japan play? And did the abduction issue come up?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q And also, the fate of the Christians?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q And the follow-up question is when will you be doing an interview with Japanese TV? Fifty-thousand American troops are in Japan. Congratulations, again.
THE PRESIDENT: That's true. Fifty-thousand great troops. That's true. Yeah, it did - abduction. Absolutely. This is Prime Minister Abe's - one of his, certainly - other than the whole denuking subject - certainly his, I would say, his main point. And I brought it up. Absolutely. And they're going to be working on that. It will be - we didn't put it down in the document, but it will be worked on.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Christians, yes. We are - brought it up very strongly. You know, Franklin Graham spent - spent and spends a tremendous amount of time in North Korea. He's got it very close to his heart. It did come up, and things will be happening. Okay? Thank you. Great question.
Yes, Jon. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jon.
Q Returning to the question of human rights, you spoke very powerfully on the issue during your State of the Union Address. You showed that - you had the defector in the First Lady's box with the crutches, who escaped. And you, at that point, said that North Korea has more brutally oppressed its people than any other regime on Earth. Do you still believe that is the case having sat down with Kim Jong Un? And does he need to change that?
THE PRESIDENT: Right. Jon, I believe it's a rough situation over there. There's no question about it. And we did discuss it today pretty strongly. I mean, knowing what the main purpose of what we were doing is: denuking. But discussed it at pretty good length. We'll be doing something on it. It's rough. It's rough in a lot of places, by the way. Not just there. But it's rough, and we will continue that. And I think, ultimately, we'll agree to something. But it was discussed at length outside of the nuclear situation, one of the primary topics.
Q But do you think that needs to change to bring on this glorious new era you've talked about? Are they going to have to -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it will change. Yeah. I think it probably has to, but I think it will. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Steve. That's you, Steve? Right there.
Q Yes, sir. Thank you. What timetable do you envision for their denuclearization? And in the meantime, are you thinking about easing any sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, scientifically, I've been watching and reading a lot about this, and it does take a long time to pull off complete denuclearization. It takes a long time. Scientifically, you have to wait certain periods of time, and a lot of things happen. But...
Q Having sat down with Kim Jong Un. And does he have to change that?
THE PRESIDENT: Jon, I believe it's a rough situation over there. There's no question about it. And we did discuss it today pretty strongly. I mean, knowing what - the main purpose of what we were doing is: denuking. But discussed at pretty good length. We'll be doing something on it. It's rough. It's rough in a lot of places, by the way - not just there. But it's rough. And we will continue that, and I think, ultimately, we'll agree to something. But it was discussed at length. Outside of - outside of the nuclear situation, one of the primary topics.
Q But do you think that needs to change to bring on this glorious new era you've talked about? Are they going to have to -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it will change, yeah. I think it probably has to. But I think it will. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
Steve? That's you, Steve? Right there.
Q Yes, sir. Thank you. What timetable do you envision for their denuclearization? And in the meantime, are you thinking about easing any sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you know, scientifically, I've been watching and reading a lot about this, and it does take a long time to pull off complete denuclearization. It takes a long time. Scientifically, you have to wait certain periods of time, and a lot of things happen. But despite that, once you start the process, it means it's pretty much over; you can't use them. That's the good news. And that's going to start very - very soon. I believe that's going to start very soon. We will do it as fast as it can mechanically and physically be done, Steve.
Q And the sanctions?
THE PRESIDENT: The sanctions will come off when we are sure that the nukes are no longer a factor. Sanctions played a big role, but they'll come off at that point. I hope it's going to be soon, but they'll come off. As you know, and as I've said, the sanctions right now remain. But at a certain point, I actually look forward to taking them off. And they'll come off when we know we're down the road - where it's not going to happen, nothing is going to happen. Okay?
Yes, go ahead. Please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Congratulations on this historic summit.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Congratulations to everybody, by the way. Congratulations to everybody.
Go ahead.
Q You signed a document with Kim Jong Un. It's essentially a piece of paper. Yesterday, we had a briefing from the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. He said the following: "Many Presidents previously have signed off on pieces of paper only to find that the North Koreans either didn't promise what we thought they had, or actually reneged on those promises." What makes this time different, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you have a different administration. You have a different President. You have a different Secretary of State. You have people that are - you know, it's very important to them. And we get it done. The other groups, maybe it wasn't a priority. I don't think they could have done it if it was a priority, frankly. I don't think they honestly could have done it even if it was a priority.
And it would have been easier back then. It would have been - for me, it would have been much easier if this were 10 years ago or 5 years ago. And I'm not just blaming President Obama. I mean, this goes back - for 25 years, this should have happened. I was given a very tough hand. I was given this, I was given the Iran deal, and plenty of other problems.
But we are - we're doing really well. And the Iran deal, I have to be honest, I did it because nuclear is always number one to me. Nuclear is number one.
But on the Iran deal, I think Iran is a different country now than it was three or four months ago. I don't think they're looking so much to the Mediterranean. I don't think they're looking so much at Syria, like they were, with total confidence. I don't think they're so confident right now.
But I hope - with that being said, I hope that, at the appropriate time, after these sanctions kick in - and they are brutal, what we've put on Iran - I hope that they're going to come back and negotiate a real deal, because I'd love to be able to do that. But right now, it's too soon for that.
Yes, please.
Q Mr. President, you also didn't talk about establishing diplomatic relations, exchanging ambassadors. How long before that happens?
THE PRESIDENT: Good question. Hopefully soon. But we'll have to get things moving first. Very - a little bit early for that. We have to get things moving.
Yes, go ahead. Hi.
Q Can you clarify, when you said you were stopping "war games," so you are stopping the military exercises with South Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we've done exercises for a long period of time, working with South Korea. And we call them "war games," and I call them "war games." And they're tremendously expensive. The amount of money that we spend on that is incredible. And South Korea contributes, but not 100 percent, which is certainly a subject that we have to talk to them about also. And that has to do with the military expense and also the trade.
So we're doing that. We actually have a new deal with South Korea, in terms of the trade deal, but we have to talk to them. We have to talk to many countries about treating us fairly.
But the war games are very expensive. We pay for a big majority of them. We fly in bombers from Guam. I said - when I first started, I said, "Where do the bombers come from?" "Guam. Nearby." I said, "Oh, great, nearby. Where's nearby?" "Six and a half hours." Six and a half hours - that's a long time for these big massive planes to be flying to South Korea to practice and then drop bombs all over the place, and then go back to Guam. I know a lot about airplanes; it's very expensive. And I didn't like it.
And what I did say is - and I think it's very provocative, I have to tell you, Jennifer, it's a very provocative situation when I see that, and you have a country right next door. So under the circumstances that we are negotiating a very comprehensive, complete deal, I think it's inappropriate to be having war games.
So, number one, we save money - a lot. And number two, it really is something that I think they very much appreciate it.
Q Does North Korea give you something in return, though?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we've gotten - you know, I've heard that. I mean, some of the people that - I don't know, maybe they really mean it. I don't always want to go against the press because I just don't - especially not today, this is too important. But I noticed that some of the people were saying that the President has agreed to meet, he has given up so much. I gave up nothing. I'm here. I haven't slept in 25 hours, but I thought it was appropriate to do - because we have been negotiating for literally around the clock with them, and with us, and with John, and with Mike, and a whole team of very talented people.
But we haven't given up anything, other than - you're right, I agreed to meet. And I think the meeting was every bit as good for the United States as it was for North Korea. But I just wrote down some of the things we got. And they - you know, they - sure, they got a meeting. But only a person that dislikes Donald Trump would say that I've agreed to make a big commitment.
Sure, I've agreed to take a period of time and come here and meet, and that's good. But I think it's great for us, as a country, and I think it's good for them.
But what did they do to justify this meeting? Secured commitment for complete denuclearization; that's the big thing. They secured the release of three American hostages. They already gave them to us two months ago. These people are now living happily back in their homes, with their families. And it was pretty rough for them, to put it mildly.
Secure the commitment to recover the remains, including - these are of fallen heroes. And they're giving a commitment, they're starting it immediately, to recover their remains. And I just went through how many people asked me about it. I was amazed, actually. So many people would ask me, "Is it possible? Is it possible?" At that time we had no relationship to Chairman Kim or to anybody else in North Korea. You know, it was a very closed society. So we're getting the remains back.
| Statement Regarding the Summit Between the United States and North Korea | News Services, Government, State and Federal | President Donald J. Trump Has Restored American Leadership On The World Stage |
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