President Trump said Thursday he doesn’t need any more preparation for his summit next week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and said the most important thing is both leaders’ “attitude” heading into the historic meeting.
“I think I’m very well prepared. I don’t think I have to prepare too much,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, at the top of a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart. “This isn’t a question of preparation. It is a question of whether or not people want it to happen, and we’ll know that very quickly.”
“It’s about attitude,” Trump said, adding that the June 12 summit in Singapore would be “much more than a photo op.”
Trump’s comments come amid mounting worries that he has failed to develop an adequate understanding of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missiles program ahead of his summit with Kim, and might make unnecessary concessions during the meeting that could place his administration. However, Trump reiterated Thursday that he has no intention of removing the sanctions currently place against the Kim regime, and could add more if North Korea fails to cooperate.
“I could add a lot more, but I’ve chosen not to do that at this time,” he said.
The president is set to travel to Singapore on Saturday, following a two-day summit with G7 leaders in Canada. He predicted Wednesday that the summit could last “two, three, four” days if his initial meeting with Kim goes well.
“I think it’s going to be a very fruitful meeting, a very exciting meeting. I think we’re going to get to know a lot of people that our country never got to know,” the president said. “This is something that should have been handled many years ago by other presidents … but is being handled now. I’ll take care of it.”
[Also read: Kim Jong Un worried about assassination attempts in Singapore: Report]
