President Trump said Thursday that he will invite North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the United States if the two leaders have a successful summit next week in Singapore.
“The answer is yes to the second part of your question,” Trump told a journalist who asked if he would invite Kim to the U.S. if the meeting goes well.
Trump added, “Certainly if it goes well, and I think it would be well received. I think he would look at it very favorably, so I think that could happen.”
Trump spoke in the Rose Garden alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who stressed his desire to win the release of Japanese citizens abducted decades ago by North Korea.
The June 12 summit in Singapore was canceled by Trump last month before being hastily rescheduled. Trump said he remains willing to bail on the summit if talks on nuclear disarmament do not go well.
“All I can say is I am totally prepared to walk away. I did it once before,” he said.
In response to a followup question about whether he would invite Kim to the White House or to the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, the president said, “Maybe we’ll start with the White House, what do you think?”
[Opinion: Trump plays hardball on North Korea summit, just like Reagan did]
