Trump warns US-North Korean summit could be delayed
The US president warned that the summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un set for 12 June in Singapore could be delayed.
However, in remarks made overnight, Donald Trump also said it was very likely that the summit would still take place even if it was postponed.
Trump issued the announcement during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who had travelled to Washington to prepare the summit with the US leader. Jae-in urged Trump not to let the opportunity to negotiate with North Korea pass.
But the American president said that for the summit to take place, North Korea first had to agree to certain conditions, or risk their meeting be delayed.
Previously, Pyongyang had threatened to call the summit off if the US insisted on the regime's unilateral nuclear disarmament.
Mr Trump told reporters: "There’s a very substantial chance [...] it won’t work out. And that’s OK. That doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time. But it may not work out for 12 June. But there is a good chance that we’ll have the meeting."
Nevertheless, for the time being US officials were continuing to make preparations for the 12 June meeting.
Donald Trump angered North Korean officials last week when he warned Kim Jong-Un that if he refuses to reach an agreement on his nuclear program, his country could face the same fate as Libya and its leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Michael Hewson at CMC markets said: "This could well be a case of expectations management on the part of the US President, but nonetheless US stocks quickly reversed course finishing the day in the red, and this looks set to translate into a lower open in Europe this morning."
Indeed, as FXpro explained: "The announcement led to a fall in US Indices, which had been trading higher for the day, and a rebound higher in the USD. The USDCAD pair moved up from 1.27417 lows to currently trade around 1.28530. EURUSD and GBPUSD fell to support yesterday and are trading lower this morning due to the negative comments.”