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June 7 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would invite North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the White House if their planned talks next week go well. The U.S. president spoke about the Tuesday summit during a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the White House. Trump said he'd probably favor a visit to the White House for Kim over one at his Mar-a-lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla.
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"I think it would be well received. I think he will look at it favorably. So I think that could happen," Trump said.
He reiterated a promise to "walk away" from the negotiations to denuclearize North Korea if the meeting doesn't go well. Trump said Americans will know if the meeting didn't go well.
"'Maximum pressure' is absolutely in effect. We don't use the term anymore because we are going into a friendly negotiation," he said.
"Perhaps after that negotiation I will be using it again. You'll know how well we do with the negotiation -- If you hear me saying we are going to use 'maximum pressure,' you know the negotiation did not do well, frankly."
The Trump-Kim meeting is scheduled to take place at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Trump said first lady Melania Trump will not accompany him on the trip.
Melania Trump also did not accompany Japanese first lady Akie Abe on Thursday during her visit to LaSalle-Backus Education Campus in Washington, D.C. Melania Trump often joins Akie Abe on her school and cultural tours in the United States -- to Bak Middle School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Fla., and the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in Delray Beach in 2017, and to the Flagler Museum in Palm Beach in April.
The U.S. first lady made her first on-camera appearance since May 10 on Wednesday at a briefing on the hurricane season with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In their second meeting in less than two months, Abe was expected to urge Trump to raise the issue of Japanese abductees held in North Korea.
"Ahead of this historic U.S.-North Korea summit, I will meet President Trump to coordinate in order to advance progress on the nuclear issue, missiles and -- most importantly -- the abductees issue, I want to ensure the US-North Korea summit will be a success," Abe said Wednesday.
