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Trump-Kim summit: world scrambles to decipher 'denuclearisation' deal – as it happened

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Donald Trump offers Kim Jong-un security guarantees in document signed by the two leaders

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Tue 12 Jun 2018 16.36 EDTFirst published on Mon 11 Jun 2018 19.10 EDT
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We’re going to wrap up our live coverage for the day.

As Donald Trump continues to fly home from his summit in Singapore with Kim Jong-un, political allies of the president are struggling a bit to get on the same page in describing what Trump agreed to.

Trump has ordered the suspension of US military exercises with South Korea, in a surprise concession to Kim.

In return, Kim signed a joint statement committing to denuclearisation, but it was a vaguely worded commitment that the regime has made several times before over the past three decades.

Later, Republican senator Cory Gardner said Vice-President Mike Pence had briefed senators that Trump had agreed to halt “war games” on the Korean peninsula but not “readiness training and exchanges”.

Here’s some of our latest coverage:

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Senator Gardner now offers an interpretation by which his account of what vice president Pence said and Pence’s account can both be true:

.@VP went on to say while this readiness training and exchanges will occur, war games will not 2/2 https://t.co/cc6jwRw8zG

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) June 12, 2018

Contradictory messaging on fate of military exercises

A Republican senator has said that vice president Mike Pence told Republican senators that military exercises “will continue in South Korea”.

.@VP was very clear: regular readiness training and training exchanges will continue. https://t.co/9tnKhqxnMz

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) June 12, 2018

After his meeting with Kim, Trump announced the suspension of US military exercises with South Korea, declaring that the joint military exercises, involving planes flying long distances, were too expensive.

“We will be saving a tremendous amount of money. Plus, it is very provocative,” Trump said.

But Pence sent senators the opposite message, according to Gardner:

Senator Gardner says that VP Pence told Republican senators that military exercises "will continue with South Korea".

"Look forward to further comment and clarification from the president when he gets here."

— Lauren Gambino (@laurenegambino) June 12, 2018

Pence’s press secretary has subsequently called senator Gardner’s summary of Pence’s message “false”:

.@VP didn’t say this at the Senate lunch today https://t.co/WxsEFy5c9J

— Alyssa Farah (@VPPressSec) June 12, 2018

A CNN source in the Republican meeting says Pence’s answer on the war games question was not clear:

Trump, speaking on speakerphone on Sen. Risch’s iPhone, called into Senate GOP lunch and praised NK summit, touted its success, per source who attended

VP Pence fielded questions, included what Trump meant by suspending “war games”

There wasn’t a clear answer, source said

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 12, 2018

Meanwhile a Pentagon statement sidesteps the whole question:

First Pentagon statement on North Korea summit sidesteps the president's declaration that the fall military exercises with South Korea are off. pic.twitter.com/cEvQ4Vo0SY

— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) June 12, 2018
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About four years ago, and a year before he announced his presidential candidacy, Trump tweeted:

Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 8, 2014

The national Republican party, through its official Twitter account, compares Trump’s meeting with Kim to Reagan’s confrontation with Gorbachev:

And now, exactly 31 years later, @realDonaldTrump is making history as well. https://t.co/yDMd6rd3KT

— GOP (@GOP) June 12, 2018

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" - #OnThisDay in 1987 #POTUS Ronald Reagan spoke at the Berlin Wall calling for the reunification of East and West Germany. pic.twitter.com/cpcKAMSB4a

— American History TV (@cspanhistory) June 12, 2018

Iran warns North Korea not to trust Trump – report

Reuters reports that Iran has warned the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, against trusting Trump, saying he could cancel their denuclearisation agreement within hours:

Tehran cited its own experience in offering the advice to Kim a month after Washington withdrew from a similar deal with Iran.

Trump and Kim pledged at a meeting in Singapore on Tuesday to work towards complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula while Washington committed to provide security guarantees for its old enemy.

“We don’t know what type of person the North Korean leader is negotiating with. It is not clear that he would not cancel the agreement before returning home,” Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht was quoted as saying by IRNA new agency.

Nobakht questioned Trump’s credibility. “This man does not represent the American people, and they will surely distance themselves from him at the next elections,” he said.

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Warmbier family: 'hopefully something positive'

Here is a statement from the parents of Otto Warmbier, the exchange student who died days after being released from North Korea detention in June 2017:

Statement from Fred and Cindy Warmbier, the parents of Otto Warmbier: “We appreciate President Trump's recent comments about our family. We are proud of Otto and miss him. Hopefully something positive can come from this.”

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) June 12, 2018

Pentagon 'was not surprised' by halt to military drills

The Pentagon insists defense secretary Mattis was not surprised by Trump’s signing an agreement to halt joint military exercises with South Korea, CNN reports:

DOD: Secretary Mattis “was not surprised” by President Trump’s announcement on suspension of military drills; “the Secretary is in full alignment with the President to meet his goal which is denuclearization of the Peninsula”, adding “there were no surprises.”

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) June 12, 2018

A midnight errand for the governor of Guam:

At 3:13 am local, the governor of Guam, Eddie Calvo, is boarding Air Force One to visit with the president during his refuel stop.

— Steve Holland (@steveholland1) June 12, 2018

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