President Trump is officially wheels up for Vietnam ahead of his second historic summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un on Wednesday.
"We’re speaking and we’re speaking loud, and I think we could have a very good summit. I think we’ll have a very tremendous summit. We want denuclearization, and I think he’ll have a country that will set a lot of records for speed in terms of an economy,” Trump said from the White House Monday before leaving for Air Force One.
Wheels up shortly with @POTUS to Vietnam for US-North Korea summit. For updates and behind the scenes photos follow me here and on https://t.co/3vxjQvzAwC
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) February 25, 2019
Meeting for breakfast with our Nation’s Governors - then off to Vietnam for a very important Summit with Kim Jong Un. With complete Denuclearization, North Korea will rapidly become an Economic Powerhouse. Without it, just more of the same. Chairman Kim will make a wise decision!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2019
According to a senior White House official, President Trump will use the second summit with Chairman Kim to further incentivize him to denuclearize with economic prosperity.
“The President is doing everything necessary to be well prepared for this summit and also has fully engaged his team, both in the White House and in the Department of State, to be part of this process,” the official said during a background briefing with reporters last week.
“For our part, we're looking to move forward with a number of initiatives that could specifically advance each of the four pillars of the Singapore joint statement from last summer. Just to remind you, those four pillars are: Transforming relations between the U.S. and the DPRK. The second is establishing a permanent peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. The third is denuclearization -- complete denuclearization -- of the Korean Peninsula. And the fourth is the return of MIAs and KIAs from the Korean War," the official continued. "It is the final and full denuclearization that is really what's required to allow all of the -- that positive vision of a brighter future to come to pass.”
President Trump reiterated this message over the weekend.
Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2019