'America will only accept denuclearisation': Donald Trump lays out demands ahead of North Korea summit

Donald Trump arrives at Paya Lebar Air Base for a summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Donald Trump arrives at Paya Lebar Air Base for a summit with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Donald Trump has arrived in Singapore for peace talks with North Korea, telling reporters he thinks that ‘things can work out very nicely’ during the meetings.

Ahead of the landmark summit, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laid out America’s demands, insisting that ‘denuclearisation is the only outcome to US will accept.’

Mr Pompeo, who has been instrumental in setting up the talks, said that discussions are so far ‘moving quite rapidly’, and revealed that Mr Trump’s ‘most senior expert on weapons of mass destruction’ has flown out with the US delegation.

‘The US has been fooled before,’ he told a press conference.

We are going to ensure that we set up a system that is robust to verify the outcomes of the summit.’

A US official confirmed earlier that Mr Trump and Mr Kim would first meet on Tuesday one on one with translators, in a session that could last up to two hours before they open the meeting to their respective advisers.

The summit is the first of its kind between a leader of North Korea and a sitting US president.

President Donald Trump meets with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Donald Trump meets with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday ahead of talks with Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday ahead of talks with Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Shortly after landing in Singapore Donald Trump indulged in a lengthy Twitter rant as he took swipes at Canada following the G7 meeting at the weekend.

In an extraordinary tirade, the President took issue with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, describing him as ‘dishonest’ and ‘weak’, over his stance on trade.

Trump had at first agreed to a group statement on trade, only to withdraw from it while complaining that he had been blindsided by Mr Trudeau’s criticism of his tariff threats at a summit-ending news conference.

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also attended the summit, told German public television that she found Trump’s tweet disavowing the G7 statement ‘sobering’ and ‘a little depressing’.

She also said the European Union would ‘act’ against the US trade measures.

Earlier, the White House escalated the initial tirade and levelled more criticism against Mr Trudeau, branding him a back-stabber unworthy of Trump’s time.

<em>Trump directed his ire at Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (Rex)</em>
Trump directed his ire at Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau (Rex)

Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro said: ‘There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.’

Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said her country ‘does not conduct its diplomacy through ad hominem attacks’.

Trudeau, who had said at the news conference that Canada would retaliate over new US tariffs, did not respond to questions about Trump when the prime minister arrived at a Quebec City hotel on Sunday for meetings with other world leaders.

<em>The President wasted no time in making his feelings clear after the G7 summit (Rex)</em>
The President wasted no time in making his feelings clear after the G7 summit (Rex)

Spokesman Cameron Ahmad said on Saturday night that Mr Trudeau ‘said nothing he hasn’t said before – both in public and in private conversations’ with Trump.

Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, took his own swipe at Trump on Twitter, writing: ‘Big tough guy once he’s back on his airplane. Can’t do it in person… He’s a pathetic little man-child.’