'To Detriment of World,' Trump Cancels Summit With Kim

It was to have taken place June 12
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted May 24, 2018 8:56 AM CDT
Trump 'Sadly' Cancels Summit With Kim Jong Un
A man watches a TV screen showing file footage of U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 24, 2018.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Hours after North Korea announced it had blown up its nuclear test site, news of something else blowing up. The White House on Thursday released a letter from President Trump to Kim Jong Un canceling the planned June 12 summit in Singapore. It reads in part: "Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place."

The statement the president references came from senior North Korean official Choe Son Hui, who called Mike Pence a "political dummy" for comparing North Korea to Libya in the context of denuclearization and warned Pyongyang wouldn't "beg" for dialogue. CNN's sources tell it the statement "infuriated" Trump and his team, specifically the portion about Pence. "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used," Trump continued in the letter. (More President Trump stories.)

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