https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-at-camp-david-speech-today-2018-01-05/
Trump says he'd "absolutely" engage in talks with N. Korea's Kim Jong Un
Last Updated Jan 6, 2018 11:13 PM EST
President Trump, speaking from Camp David Saturday in the middle of his retreat with key congressional leaders and senior administration officials, said he would "absolutely" engage in phone conversations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The president made the decision to address reporters about his administration's 2018 legislative agenda Saturday, but when reporters began asking questions, Mr. Trump veered off message to address North Korea, questions about his mental fitness and the Russia investigation. Hours earlier, faced with criticisms in Michael Wolff's bombshell book "Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House," the president took to Twitter from Camp David to defend himself, saying he is "like, really smart" and "a very stable genius."
Senior officials in his administration have suggested there must be some preconditions to talks with North Korea. In mid-December, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he would be open to speaking with North Korea without preconditions, before backtracking on that statement and insisting North Korea must first reduce the threat of its nuclear weapons program. McMaster in December insisted Tillerson's initial comment was incorrectly reported.
On Saturday, asked if he would be willing to engage in a phone conversation with the North Korean leader right now, Mr. Trump said, "I always believe in talking."
"Our stance, you know what it is. We're very firm," Mr. Trump continued. "But I would be -- absolutely, I would do that. No problem with that, at all."
But the president, asked if that meant no prerequisites to coming to the table, said, "That's not what I said, at all."
"Look, right now they're talking Olympics," Mr. Trump said of North Korea and South Korea. "It's a start. It's a big start. If I weren't involved they wouldn't be talking about Olympics right now. They'd be doing no talking or it would be much more serious. He knows I'm not messing around. I'm not messing around. Not even a little bit. Not even 1 percent. He understands that."
The president also answered a question about why he would tweet to defend his mental abilities. He said he went to the "best" college and was an "excellent" student who went on to succeed in business, on TV, and at the ballot box.
"And then I hear this guy that doesn't know me, doesn't know me at all," Mr. Trump said, adding that a conversation Wolff claims occurred, "didn't exist, OK, it's in his imagination."
"I consider it a work of fiction," Mr. Trump said of Wolff's book.
The president also suggested that the "libel laws are very weak in this country. If they were strong it would be very helpful."
Mr. Trump also addressed a New York Times story from earlier this week that claims he told the top White House lawyer to make sure Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn't recuse himself from the Justice Department's Russia investigation.
"The story by the way in the Times was way off, or at least, off," Mr. Trump said.
Asked how the story was off, Mr. Trump said, "You'll find out. But the story was off."
The president said he still has faith his attorney general.
Looking ahead to the 2018 agenda, the reason for the Camp David retreat, Mr. Trump said a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program cannot happen without stronger security. Protections for DACA recipients end March 5, without further action.
"We all want DACA to happen, but we also want great security for our country," Mr. Trump said.
In other news at Camp David, White House chief of staff John Kelly told pool the retreat was going "really good -- very good" and that the commander in chief hunkered down Friday night and watched "The Greatest Showman" starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Kelly said that congressional leaders and Cabinet secretaries were also in attendance.
Kelly said he thought he would have to "suffer through it," but actually enjoyed the film and spent the night relaxing and having a "couple glasses of wine."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/06/trump-talks-kim-jong-un/1010195001/
Trump says he 'absolutely' would talk to Kim Jong Un, won't compromise on border wall
Heidi M. Przybyla, USA TODAY Published 1:18 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2018 | Updated 3:49 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2018
TWEETLINKEDIN 44 COMMENTEMAILMORE
WASHINGTON – President Trump said during a Camp David news conference Saturday that he “absolutely” would hold phone talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, appearing to contradict some of his top administration officials.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is among those who’ve said there must be preconditions for high-level talks with North Korea, which is racing to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal.
“Sure, I always believe in talking,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he’d speak with Kim. “Absolutely, I would do that,” he said, stressing he would also “be very firm.”
More: Trump, mocking questions on his mental state, tweets he is a 'stable genius'
“He knows I’m not messing around,” Trump said. “If something can come out of those talks that would be a great thing for all of humanity.”
Kim and Trump have engaged in an unprecedented war of words for months. Trump has referred to Kim as "little rocket man," "short and fat" and a "madman," and threatened to wipe Kim and his country off the face of the earth if they attack the United States or its allies. Kim has responded in kind, calling Trump a "mentally deranged dotard (senile person)," saying he deserved the death penalty, and vowing to annihilate the U.S. if it attacks North Korea.
In a spontaneous news conference during a retreat in the Maryland mountains with GOP congressional leaders, Trump also said he will not compromise on building a wall along the Mexican border. He took additional shots at Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury,” the explosive new book chronicling life inside the Trump White House, and defended his mental state.
“I went to the best colleges for college,” said Trump, responding to claims in the book that he is intellectually challenged. “I was a very excellent student, came out and made billions and billions of dollars,” he said.
Trump insisted he's never met Wolff, the author, who says he spent three hours interviewing Trump during the 2016 campaign and in the White House. Wolff previously was a columnist for USA TODAY.
Trump also underscored that he will not allow a deal to prevent undocumented immigrants who came here as children from being deported unless Congress approves funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
"The wall's gonna happen, or we're not gonna have DACA," said Trump.
Finally, Trump also criticized the probe of his campaign’s ties to Russia by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, repeatedly saying there’s been no collusion.
“Everything I’ve done is 100% proper. That’s what I do is I do things proper. Collusion now is dead. Because everyone found out after a year of study there has been absolutely no collusion. ... Now there has been collusion between Hillary Clinton, the DNC and the Russians," Trump said.
More: Trump seeks $18 billion to extend border wall over 10 years
More: Michael Wolff, author of White House tell-all book, says he spent 3 hours with Trump on the project
https://www.rt.com/usa/415191-trump-kim-speak-north-korea/
Trump ready to speak to Kim under certain conditions
Published time: 7 Jan, 2018 00:55 Edited time: 7 Jan, 2018 03:47
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Donald Trump has said he is “absolutely” willing to talk on the phone to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Tuesday's North-South meeting yields positive results.
President Trump, who has shown nothing but contempt for his North Korean counterpart, spoke to the media at Camp David Saturday, once again claiming credit for facilitating the impending intra-Korean dialogue. Pyongyang and Seoul earlier this week reactivated a communication hotline that's been silent for nearly two years.
READ MORE: North Korea accepts offer of talks on January 9 – Seoul
"He [South Korean President Moon Jae-in] actually thanked me," Trump said recalling a recent conversation with the South Korean president. "He said, and a lot of people have said, and a lot of people have written, that without my rhetoric and without my tough stance... And it is not just the stance, this is, this is what has to be done if it has to be done, that they wouldn't be talking about Olympics, they would not be talking right now."
Trump himself, of course, was the loudest of the "lot of people" who said that.
He suggested that he’d be willing to speak directly with Kim if certain conditions were met. “Sure, I always believe in talking,” the US president said, adding that Kim "knows I’m not messing around, not even a little bit.” The specific preconditions, however, were not expanded on. “If something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity, that would be a great thing for the world,” he added.
The possibility of direct engagement between Trump and Kim follows heated exchanges and an increasingly personalized battle between the two nuclear-armed leaders, culminating with the reciprocal boast that their respective "nuclear buttons" are at the ready. "I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted in reply to Kim's New Year speech that his "button is always on my table."
Read more
‘Mine is bigger’: Trump dares Kim Jong-un to compare nuclear buttons
On Friday, Pyongyang agreed to Seoul's request to hold bilateral talks on North Korea's participation in the Olympics and other matters of "mutual interest" in the Korean Demilitarized Zone on January 9. The meeting was made possible after Kim signalled a thaw in the frozen relationship with the South during the same New Year speech in which the now-famous 'button' was mentioned.
In a phone conversation with Trump earlier this week, president Moon was able to convince his ally to postpone their joint annual Foal Eagle exercises until after the Winter Paralympic Games in March, so that the talks between the two Koreas have a chance to succeed.
At Camp David Saturday, Trump also said that unlike previous American administrations, he is prepared to take a "tough" stance on North Korea. "You have to have a certain attitude and you have to be prepared to do certain things. And I'm totally prepared to do that," the president told reporters.
Despite previous statements from the State Department that Washington doesn't trust Kim to abide by any agreements, Trump expressed support for the upcoming intra-Korean talks. "I'd like to see them getting involved in the Olympics and maybe things go from there. So I'm behind that 100 percent," the president said. "I would love to see it go far beyond the Olympics, absolutely. And at the appropriate time, we'll get involved."
Trump says he'd "absolutely" engage in talks with N. Korea's Kim Jong Un
Last Updated Jan 6, 2018 11:13 PM EST
President Trump, speaking from Camp David Saturday in the middle of his retreat with key congressional leaders and senior administration officials, said he would "absolutely" engage in phone conversations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The president made the decision to address reporters about his administration's 2018 legislative agenda Saturday, but when reporters began asking questions, Mr. Trump veered off message to address North Korea, questions about his mental fitness and the Russia investigation. Hours earlier, faced with criticisms in Michael Wolff's bombshell book "Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House," the president took to Twitter from Camp David to defend himself, saying he is "like, really smart" and "a very stable genius."
Senior officials in his administration have suggested there must be some preconditions to talks with North Korea. In mid-December, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he would be open to speaking with North Korea without preconditions, before backtracking on that statement and insisting North Korea must first reduce the threat of its nuclear weapons program. McMaster in December insisted Tillerson's initial comment was incorrectly reported.
On Saturday, asked if he would be willing to engage in a phone conversation with the North Korean leader right now, Mr. Trump said, "I always believe in talking."
"Our stance, you know what it is. We're very firm," Mr. Trump continued. "But I would be -- absolutely, I would do that. No problem with that, at all."
But the president, asked if that meant no prerequisites to coming to the table, said, "That's not what I said, at all."
"Look, right now they're talking Olympics," Mr. Trump said of North Korea and South Korea. "It's a start. It's a big start. If I weren't involved they wouldn't be talking about Olympics right now. They'd be doing no talking or it would be much more serious. He knows I'm not messing around. I'm not messing around. Not even a little bit. Not even 1 percent. He understands that."
The president also answered a question about why he would tweet to defend his mental abilities. He said he went to the "best" college and was an "excellent" student who went on to succeed in business, on TV, and at the ballot box.
"And then I hear this guy that doesn't know me, doesn't know me at all," Mr. Trump said, adding that a conversation Wolff claims occurred, "didn't exist, OK, it's in his imagination."
"I consider it a work of fiction," Mr. Trump said of Wolff's book.
The president also suggested that the "libel laws are very weak in this country. If they were strong it would be very helpful."
Mr. Trump also addressed a New York Times story from earlier this week that claims he told the top White House lawyer to make sure Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn't recuse himself from the Justice Department's Russia investigation.
"The story by the way in the Times was way off, or at least, off," Mr. Trump said.
Asked how the story was off, Mr. Trump said, "You'll find out. But the story was off."
The president said he still has faith his attorney general.
Looking ahead to the 2018 agenda, the reason for the Camp David retreat, Mr. Trump said a fix for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program cannot happen without stronger security. Protections for DACA recipients end March 5, without further action.
"We all want DACA to happen, but we also want great security for our country," Mr. Trump said.
In other news at Camp David, White House chief of staff John Kelly told pool the retreat was going "really good -- very good" and that the commander in chief hunkered down Friday night and watched "The Greatest Showman" starring Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron. Kelly said that congressional leaders and Cabinet secretaries were also in attendance.
Kelly said he thought he would have to "suffer through it," but actually enjoyed the film and spent the night relaxing and having a "couple glasses of wine."
© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/06/trump-talks-kim-jong-un/1010195001/
Trump says he 'absolutely' would talk to Kim Jong Un, won't compromise on border wall
Heidi M. Przybyla, USA TODAY Published 1:18 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2018 | Updated 3:49 p.m. ET Jan. 6, 2018
TWEETLINKEDIN 44 COMMENTEMAILMORE
WASHINGTON – President Trump said during a Camp David news conference Saturday that he “absolutely” would hold phone talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, appearing to contradict some of his top administration officials.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster is among those who’ve said there must be preconditions for high-level talks with North Korea, which is racing to develop a nuclear weapons arsenal.
“Sure, I always believe in talking,” Trump said in response to a question about whether he’d speak with Kim. “Absolutely, I would do that,” he said, stressing he would also “be very firm.”
More: Trump, mocking questions on his mental state, tweets he is a 'stable genius'
“He knows I’m not messing around,” Trump said. “If something can come out of those talks that would be a great thing for all of humanity.”
Kim and Trump have engaged in an unprecedented war of words for months. Trump has referred to Kim as "little rocket man," "short and fat" and a "madman," and threatened to wipe Kim and his country off the face of the earth if they attack the United States or its allies. Kim has responded in kind, calling Trump a "mentally deranged dotard (senile person)," saying he deserved the death penalty, and vowing to annihilate the U.S. if it attacks North Korea.
In a spontaneous news conference during a retreat in the Maryland mountains with GOP congressional leaders, Trump also said he will not compromise on building a wall along the Mexican border. He took additional shots at Michael Wolff, author of “Fire and Fury,” the explosive new book chronicling life inside the Trump White House, and defended his mental state.
“I went to the best colleges for college,” said Trump, responding to claims in the book that he is intellectually challenged. “I was a very excellent student, came out and made billions and billions of dollars,” he said.
Trump insisted he's never met Wolff, the author, who says he spent three hours interviewing Trump during the 2016 campaign and in the White House. Wolff previously was a columnist for USA TODAY.
Trump also underscored that he will not allow a deal to prevent undocumented immigrants who came here as children from being deported unless Congress approves funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.
"The wall's gonna happen, or we're not gonna have DACA," said Trump.
Finally, Trump also criticized the probe of his campaign’s ties to Russia by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, repeatedly saying there’s been no collusion.
“Everything I’ve done is 100% proper. That’s what I do is I do things proper. Collusion now is dead. Because everyone found out after a year of study there has been absolutely no collusion. ... Now there has been collusion between Hillary Clinton, the DNC and the Russians," Trump said.
More: Trump seeks $18 billion to extend border wall over 10 years
More: Michael Wolff, author of White House tell-all book, says he spent 3 hours with Trump on the project
https://www.rt.com/usa/415191-trump-kim-speak-north-korea/
Trump ready to speak to Kim under certain conditions
Published time: 7 Jan, 2018 00:55 Edited time: 7 Jan, 2018 03:47
Get short URL
© The White House / Facebook
AddThis Sharing Buttons
Share to Facebook1KShare to TwitterShare to Reddit1Share to Google+Share to TelegramShare to WhatsAppShare to Facebook Messenger
Donald Trump has said he is “absolutely” willing to talk on the phone to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if Tuesday's North-South meeting yields positive results.
President Trump, who has shown nothing but contempt for his North Korean counterpart, spoke to the media at Camp David Saturday, once again claiming credit for facilitating the impending intra-Korean dialogue. Pyongyang and Seoul earlier this week reactivated a communication hotline that's been silent for nearly two years.
READ MORE: North Korea accepts offer of talks on January 9 – Seoul
"He [South Korean President Moon Jae-in] actually thanked me," Trump said recalling a recent conversation with the South Korean president. "He said, and a lot of people have said, and a lot of people have written, that without my rhetoric and without my tough stance... And it is not just the stance, this is, this is what has to be done if it has to be done, that they wouldn't be talking about Olympics, they would not be talking right now."
Trump himself, of course, was the loudest of the "lot of people" who said that.
He suggested that he’d be willing to speak directly with Kim if certain conditions were met. “Sure, I always believe in talking,” the US president said, adding that Kim "knows I’m not messing around, not even a little bit.” The specific preconditions, however, were not expanded on. “If something can come out of those talks, that would be a great thing for all of humanity, that would be a great thing for the world,” he added.
The possibility of direct engagement between Trump and Kim follows heated exchanges and an increasingly personalized battle between the two nuclear-armed leaders, culminating with the reciprocal boast that their respective "nuclear buttons" are at the ready. "I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump tweeted in reply to Kim's New Year speech that his "button is always on my table."
Read more
‘Mine is bigger’: Trump dares Kim Jong-un to compare nuclear buttons On Friday, Pyongyang agreed to Seoul's request to hold bilateral talks on North Korea's participation in the Olympics and other matters of "mutual interest" in the Korean Demilitarized Zone on January 9. The meeting was made possible after Kim signalled a thaw in the frozen relationship with the South during the same New Year speech in which the now-famous 'button' was mentioned.
In a phone conversation with Trump earlier this week, president Moon was able to convince his ally to postpone their joint annual Foal Eagle exercises until after the Winter Paralympic Games in March, so that the talks between the two Koreas have a chance to succeed.
At Camp David Saturday, Trump also said that unlike previous American administrations, he is prepared to take a "tough" stance on North Korea. "You have to have a certain attitude and you have to be prepared to do certain things. And I'm totally prepared to do that," the president told reporters.
Despite previous statements from the State Department that Washington doesn't trust Kim to abide by any agreements, Trump expressed support for the upcoming intra-Korean talks. "I'd like to see them getting involved in the Olympics and maybe things go from there. So I'm behind that 100 percent," the president said. "I would love to see it go far beyond the Olympics, absolutely. And at the appropriate time, we'll get involved."
