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Trump Claims Has 'Largely Solved' North Korean Nuclear Crisis


U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington on June 15.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington on June 15.

U.S. President Donald Trump claims he has "largely solved" the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear program after his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn, Trump said on June 15 that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had told him North Korea's nuclear weapons program was the "most dangerous problem" facing the United States.

"I have solved that problem. That problem is largely solved," he told reporters.

Trump met with Kim on June 12 in Singapore, with the leaders issuing a joint statement afterward committing the sides to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and vowing to "start a new history" between the two countries.

Trump also said he gave Kim a direct phone number to contact him and that Pyongyang had already begun to return the remains of U.S. soldiers missing during the 1950-53 Korean War, a key U.S. demand.

He also took issue with critics who said his joint statement with North Korea was vague and that the United States gave up more than it got when he agreed to halt "provocative war games" with South Korea, a long-standing demand of Pyongyang.

Trump said he got "everything" in the deal with Kim.

He added that he did not press Kim on Pyongyang's human rights violations because he did not want to start a nuclear war with North Korea.

With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP
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