As G-20 concludes, Trump tells reporters he 'may or may not' meet with Kim in North Korea
President
Trump in a news conference Saturday said he doesn’t plan to add new
tariffs on Chinese imports but he won’t be lifting the existing tariffs.
The
president spoke from Osaka, Japan, where he met with several world
leaders, including China's President Xi Jinping, Russia's President
Vladimir Putin, Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman and Turkish President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
President Trump calls on a reporter to ask a question during a
news conference following the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday.
(Associated Press)
“These meetings have been great,” he told reporters.
He said his meeting with Xi "went better than expected" and that U.S.
negotiators would “start where they left off with China.”
He
called the country a "strategic partner" and said, “U.S. companies can
sell their equipment to" Huawei Technologies, despite the Commerce
Department's efforts to blacklist the Chinese company last month over
concerns that its products could be used to spy on other countries.
“Trump
also said he “may or may not see Kim Jong Un” when he makes his next
stop, in South Korea, to visit that nation's President Moon Jae-in. He
told Fox News he would “feel very comfortable” stepping into North Korea
if the meeting with Kim became possible, but he wasn't concerned if it
couldn't happen. He would be the first U.S. president to enter North
Korea.
Trump
sent an invitation to Kim on Friday via Twitter, suggesting the two
could meet when Trump is in the DMZ with President Moon. A North Korean
official reportedly said the invitation was a "very interesting
suggestion."
He told reporters any meeting with Kim would just be a "quick hello."
President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference following
the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, on Saturday. (Associated Press)
When asked if he had spoken to Saudi Crown Prince
Mohammed bin Salman about the killing of American journalist Jamal
Khashoggi – a murder the U.S. intelligence community believes the crown
prince ordered – Trump said he asked him what was happening.
“There
are large numbers of people being prosecuted," he told reporters. He
added that the crown prince is “very angry” over the murder, but praised
the leader as a "great ally" whose country is fighting terrorism and
helping women.
When a reporter challenged his statement that no
one had "pointed a finger" at bin Salman, Trump said he couldn't comment
on intelligence, but added that "they’re taking it very seriously over
there."
Trump also said he had “a great discussion” with Putin and hopes the U.S. will do more trade with Russia in the future.
A
reporter pressed him on whether he asked Putin to stay out of U.S.
elections beyond a seemingly joking rebuke Friday. Trump said he
“discussed it a little bit after that,” but the Russian president
"denies it totally.”
The president called Turkey a "friend" and
said he and President Erdogan would "look at different solutions" in
Turkey's planned purchase of a Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile
system.
The
president covered various other topics in the hour-long news
conference, weighing in on the Democratic debates, immigration and a
remark Jimmy Carter made about his legitimacy before leaving for South
Korea. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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