White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Friday said that President Donald Trump will not be meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un without "concrete actions."
ABC News reporter Jonathan Karl, in response to recently announced plans for a meeting between Trump and Kim, asked Sanders during Friday's White House press briefing whether Trump believes Kim is "sincere" about denuclearization.
Sanders said Trump is optimistic, but the administration will continue to put pressure on the Kim regime.
"The maximum pressure campaign--we're not letting up. We're not going to step back or make any changes to that. We're going to continue in that effort and we're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," Sanders said.
Karl followed up to ask how Kim can be trusted as a negotiating partner.
"Look, we're not in the negotiation right now. We've accepted the invitation to talk based on them following through with concrete actions on the promises that they've made," Sanders said.
South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-Yong made an announcement at the White House a day earlier that Kim had committed to denuclearization and was planning to talk with Trump.
"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he's committed to denuclearization," Chung said. "Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue, and he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible."
Fox News reporter John Roberts, earlier in the briefing, also asked Sanders if there were any considerations for the meeting's location.
"As we said last night, a time and place have not yet been determined. We'll certainly make those announcements when more decisions and more information is available on that front," Sanders said.