NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A ‘beautiful’ letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touted by President Donald Trump on Tuesday [6-11-19] lacked substance and did not contain any details on a way forward for the stalled denuclearization talks between the two countries, according to a source familiar with its contents. On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Trump and Kim Jong Un’s first meeting in Singapore, Trump told reporters, ‘I just received a beautiful letter from Kim Jong Un … I appreciated the letter.’ Trump said he received the letter from Kim on Monday [6-10-19], the first since the February summit in Hanoi, which both leaders left empty-handed. An administration official described the letter as a ‘birthday greeting.’ Trump’s birthday is Friday [6-14-19] and the official says Kim wished the President good health. After months of stalled diplomacy Trump declared that North Korea was ‘not ready to negotiate’ last month, but Monday’s letter appeared to prompt him to take a more optimistic stance on the possibility of future talks.”
–Kylie Atwood, “Kim Jong Un’s ‘beautiful’ letter to Trump contained no details on way forward, source says,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 12, 2019 11:44 pm