Trump, John Bolton can't get on the same page regarding Kim Jong Un

(Image credit: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 12 June 2019

Once again, President Trump and National Security Adviser John Bolton have two very different opinions on whether North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is reneging on his promise to suspend nuclear and missile testing.

While speaking to The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday morning, Bolton said North Korea is not following through with its commitment, which was made during Trump's first summit with Kim last year in Singapore. "What they've said was that they're not going to test ballistic missiles, intercontinental range ballistic missiles, or have nuclear tests," he said. "That's continued. They're doing a lot of other things that still indicate that they have not made a strategic decision to give up the pursuit of deliverable weapons, which is why we continue the maximum pressure campaign."

In May, North Korea tested a short-range ballistic missile, which both Bolton and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said violated United Nations resolutions; Trump didn't agree, saying he viewed it "differently." On Tuesday afternoon, he once again contradicted Bolton, raving to reporters about the "warm letter" he recently received from Kim. "He kept his word," Trump said. "There's no nuclear testing. There's no large, there's no long-range missiles going up. The only things he's set up were very short term, short range. This was just a test of short range. It's a whole different deal, but he's kept his word to me. That's very important."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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