Donald Trump to visit UK in December after confirming second meeting with Kim Jong-un
Donald Trump will return to the UK in December for a Nato summit.
The US president, who has repeatedly criticised the military alliance, will meet with heads of state in London, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg announced on Wednesday.
It will be Mr Trump’s second visit to Britain since his election, having jetted in amid swathes of protest last July.
Confirming the meeting, Mr Stoltenberg said: ‘I am pleased to announce that allies have agreed that the next meeting of Nato heads of state and government will take place in London in December 2019.
‘The meeting in London will be an opportunity for allied heads of state and government to address the security challenges we face now and in the future, and to ensure that Nato continues to adapt in order to keep its population of almost one billion people safe.’
The news came hours after President Trump used his State of the Union address to announce a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un later this month.
The two leaders first met in June 2018 for a historic summit, and will now meet for more talks in Vietnam on February 27 and 28.
The President said his outreach to Kim and their first meeting in Singapore had now opened a path to peace.
However, Trump warned that there is not yet a concrete plan for how denuclearisation could be implemented – something that has eluded the US for more than two decades.
The pair’s first meeting only led to a vaguely worded commitment by the North to denuclearise.
Trump, who was speaking to a divided Congress, said: ‘As part of a bold new diplomacy, we continue our historic push for peace on the Korean Peninsula.’
Boasting of his previous meeting with Kim, Trump said: ‘Our hostages have come home, nuclear testing has stopped, and there has not been a missile launch in 15 months.
‘If I had not been elected President of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea.”
‘Much work remains to be done, but my relationship with Kim Jong-un is a good one.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told Congress last week that US intelligence officials do not believe Kim will eliminate his nuclear weapons or the capacity to build more because he believes they are key to the survival of the regime.
Satellite video taken since the June summit has indicated North Korea is continuing to produce nuclear materials at its weapons factories.
Trump’s speech to Congress saw him call on officials to reject ‘the politics of revenge, resistance and retribution’.
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The President, who has spent two years levelling fiercely personal attacks on his Democratic rivals, declared that it was time ‘to bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions and unlock the extraordinary promise of America’s future’.
He warned emboldened Democrats that ‘ridiculous partisan investigations’ into his administration and businesses could hamper a surging American economy.
Trump added: ‘If there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation.’
Despite his appeals for a truce, Democratic women sat silently for much of Trump’s speech, but leapt to their feet when he noted there are ‘more women in the workforce than ever before’.