President Trump notified Congress on Friday that he has extended the state of “national emergency” created by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, days after he tweeted “there is no longer a nuclear threat” posed by Pyongyang.
According to the notice, “the existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
The president said he extended the state of national emergency through June 26, 2019, months after he signed an executive order last September that imposed Friday’s deadline for continuation.
The president’s decision to continue the state of national emergency seemingly undermines a statement he made after returning from Singapore last week following his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea,” Trump wrote last Wednesday.
Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2018
He added: “Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!”
[Trump: ‘We’re prepared to start a new history’]
U.S. officials have declined to lift sanctions on the Kim regime until the Trump administration has verified North Korea’s complete and irreversible dismantlement of its nuclear weapons program. In a Cabinet meeting Thursday, Trump said Pyongyang has “already started [the process of] total denuclearization.”
“They’ve stopped the sending of missiles, including ballistic missiles and they’re destroying their engine site,” he said.
