President Trump Cancels North Korea Summit — and Twitter Wonders What That Means for His Nobel Prize

Stephanie Petit
Updated
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After a North Korean vice minister of foreign affairs slammed Vice President Mike Pence as a “political dummy,” President Donald Trump has called off what would have been a historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote in a letter released by the White House on Thursday. “Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.”

The meeting, which would have marked the first face-to-face encounter between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader, was set for June 12 in Singapore.

Trump also wrote to Kim that he felt a “wonderful dialogue was building you and me,” and said, “Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you.”

Both critics and supporters were quick to share their reactions on social media.

“Today, above anything else, Trump proved that Kim Jong Un is a more savvy and competent world leader than the current President of the United States,” said writer Andy Richter. “Congrats, master negotiator.”

New York Times contributor Wajahat Ali? added, “Kim Jong Un played Trump and won. How embarrassing. The bar is so low for Trump and he still cant slither under it.”

Others said Trump simply wanted to hold the meeting to earn a Nobel Peace Prize.

“Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize so badly that he tripped heads over heels trying to appease Kim Jong Un and have a grandiose summit in Singapore,” said surgeon Eugene Gu, who notes in his Twitter bio that he is blocked by the president. “But real peace takes hard work, negotiation, and judgment. Trump only knows how to play golf and make coins for cancelled summits.”

Others joked that the letter sounded like a “scorned lover sending a break-up letter.”

“I heard this letter from Trump to Kim Jong Un being read by Pompeo, while I was driving. I have to say the words that stuck out: ‘wonderful,’ ‘beautiful’ – before the threat to blow North Korea to pieces – it sounded like a scorned lover sending a break-up letter,” said women and LGBT rights advocate Amy Siskind.

Although the president praised North Korea’s recent release of three American prisoners in the letter, he also resurrected some of the “fire and fury” rhetoric used in his public exchanges with the North Korean leader last year.

“You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used,” he wrote.