Trump holds joint news conference with Sweden’s Lofven

Trump on North Korea: “We have made progress”

President Trump addressed potential talks with the North Koreans while welcoming Sweden’s prime minister in the Oval Office. He told reporters that hopefully it will go in a “very peaceful and beautiful path” and it would be “a great thing for the world.”

He called the situation in the Korean peninsula “very tenuous” and said it’s “going to be very interesting to see what happens” with regards to possible talks with the regime. He credited the Winter Olympic Games as a being stepping off point for the negotiations, saying North Korea’s inclusion in the games made it “very successful.”

“I thought North Korea was terrific, they went into the Olympics, they went in with good spirit they did well, let’s see if we can carry it over,” he said.

While Mr. Trump called the statements out of North and South Korea “positive”, he said “one way or the other we have to do something, we can not let that situation fester.”

Asked if he was optimistic for a positive result in the talks, Mr. Trump said he’d like to be, adding “I think maybe this has gone further than anyone’s taken it before.”

“This should have been handled over many years by many administrations,” Mr. Trump added of his predecessors inability to broker such negotiations with the North Koreans.

“These are the cards we were dealt, we’re handling it properly,” said Mr. Trump.