1 of 3 | President Donald Trump shakes hands with governors after addressing the 2019 White House Business Session at the White House Monday Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI |
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Feb. 25 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump left Monday for Vietnam to meet in a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, to discuss denuclearization.
At a breakfast Monday with U.S. governors, Trump said he expects to have a "signing ceremony" soon for a new trade agreement with China. He also addressed his controversial border wall, saying construction just started on a 47-mile stretch along the U.S.-Mexico border and another 200 miles will start "pretty soon." He reiterated his point about "rough hombres" trying to enter the country unlawfully.
"You take a look at Tijuana, Mexico, thousands and thousands of people are sitting there trying to get into our country," he said.
Trump was scheduled to leave Washington for Hanoi early Monday afternoon.
The remarks followed Trump's appearance at the White House Sunday night at the Governor's Ball, Trump touted the relationship he's built with Kim while still keeping sanctions on the country. He said there's been no nuclear testing so "we're happy."
"I'm not pushing for speed, but we're not removing [North Korea] sanctions," Trump said. "We're going to have, I think, a very interesting two and-a-half days in Vietnam. And we're going to have a chance for the total denuclearization of an area of the world that was very dangerous."
Trump said Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo Abe told him he's impressed with what's happened in just two years time.
"Because rockets were being fired over Japan -- rockets and missiles," Trump said. "And that hasn't happened in a long time -- 16 months, 17 months. No more testing. No more rockets."
Trump spoke about recent progress on trade talks with China and said there should be "very big news" in the next week or two. New tariffs on Chinese imports were set to be announced Friday, but Trump pushed that back.
"The whole relationship has been outstanding," he said. "We put ourselves into a position of strength for the first time in about 35 years, or probably a lot more than that. But China has been terrific. We want to make a deal that's great for both countries."
Trump declared a national emergency Feb. 15 that allowed him to reallocate federal dollars to pay for the wall without Congressional approval. Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, will vote Tuesday on a resolution to block the emergency.
