At a news conference in Hanoi on Thursday, President Trump said he did bring up the death of American college students Otto Warmbier with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their unsuccessful summit in Vietnam. Warmbier, 22, was arrested while visiting North Korea on suspicion of stealing a propaganda poster, and he died in the U.S. in June 2017 of injuries sustained in a North Korean prison camp. Trump repeatedly said that he doesn't believe Kim knew about Warmbier's treatment. "I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen," since Warmbier's death was not in Kim's interest, Trump said. "Those prisons are rough places."
Kim was well-versed on the case when Trump brought it up, "but he knew about it later" and "he felt badly about it," Trump said. "He tells me that he didn't know about it, and I take him at his word."
"Trump has taken credit for freeing American prisoners abroad and used Warmbier's death as a rallying cry against the North's human rights abuses before softening his rhetoric in advance of talks with Kim," The Associated Press notes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Kristi Noem might not be long for TrumplandIN THE SPOTLIGHT The Homeland Security secretary has been one of the most visible and vocal architects of Trump’s anti-immigration efforts, even as her own star risks fading
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternative
Speed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s order
Speed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
