President Trump on Monday suggested China may be behind the dark tone taken by North Korea after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang last week.
Beijing “may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade,” Trump’s wrote on Twitter.
I have confidence that Kim Jong Un will honor the contract we signed &, even more importantly, our handshake. We agreed to the denuclearization of North Korea. China, on the other hand, may be exerting negative pressure on a deal because of our posture on Chinese Trade-Hope Not!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018
North Korean state media accused Pompeo of “gangster-like” tactics after his latest visit, adding that the U.S. raised “cancerous issues” and had a “regrettable” attitude.
The secretary of state’s visit was the first round of negotiations since the historic summit between Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong-un on June 12. That meeting produced a signed agreement to “work toward denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.
Pompeo dismissed the North’s remarks, insisting that denuclearization talks are still going well.
“If those requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster,” the secretary of state said. “People are going to make stray comments after meetings. If I paid attention to what the press said, I’d go nuts.”
China trades heavily with North Korea and is the Kim regime’s most important international ally. It has been reluctant to support the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against the North as a result.
NOW WATCH: ‘Pompeo Meets With Japanese & South Korean Allies’