Our live coverage has ended. Scroll down to read more about the two leaders’ meeting.
President Trump said he may attend the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem, which is set to occur in a matter of weeks.
“I may go. I’m very proud of it,” Trump said at a news conference.
Trump said he’d reduced the cost of the building from a $1 billion project to a smaller renovation that cost only $150,000.
President Donald Trump defended his now former VA nominee Dr. Ronny Jackson, saying the way he was treated is a “disgrace.”
Jackson withdrew his nomination to lead the VA yesterday. His nomination was hampered by a flurry of allegations about Jackson’s professional conduct.
Here’s what Trump thinks about all that:
He continued: “To make statements of things that most people said never happened, never even happened, calling him names was, to me, a disgrace, an absolute disgrace.”
Dr. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s pick to the lead the Veterans Affairs agency, withdrew his nomination following allegations about his conduct.
Today, Trump was asked if he had any other people in mind to fill the position.
He said a lot of people want the job, some of them are “excellent” and others are “very political.”
“We have many people that want that job,” he said. “We’re very proud of the job we’ve done for the veterans.”
President Trump said he believes he is responsible for improving the relationship between North and South Korea.
“I think I have a responsibility. I think other presidents should have done it. I think the responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the president of the United States. I think I have a responsibility to see if I can do it,” he said.
President Trump said tUS relations with North Korea have changed “very radically” in recent months, pointing to his previous insult exchanges with North Korean Kim Jong Un.
“We have a very good working relationship. We’re setting up a meeting. Things have changed very radically from a few months ago. You know, the name calling and a lot of other things,” Trump said.
Last year, when speaking at the UN, Trump called Kim “Little Rocket Man.” Kim, in response, had called Trump a “dotard” and a “destroyer.”
Trump said a previous administration should have handled the North Korea situation.
“This should have been handled a long time ago, not now. This should not have been left for me to handle. But we will handle it. We’re handling it well,” he said.
President Trump, speaking at a joint press conference, said he will be meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming weeks.
He also praised the South and North Korean leaders for holding its historic summit.
“It’s taken a long time, many, many decades to get here,” Trump said. “Let’s see what happens.”
He again asserted his administration’s goal: “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
“We seek a future of peace, prosperity and harmony, unlocking a brighter future not on for the people of Korea but for the people of the world,” he said.
“However, in pursuit of that goal, we will not repeat the mistake of past administrations. Maximum pressure will continue until denuclearization occurs. I look forward to our meeting. It should be quite something.”
President Trump said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed Iran in their talks today.
“The Iranian regime fuels violence, bloodshed and chaos all across the Middle East,” Trump said at a press conference.
“We must ensure that this murderous regime does not even get close to a nuclear weapon, and that Iran ends its proliferation of dangerous missiles and its support for terrorism. No matter where you go in the Middle East, wherever there’s a problem, Iran is right there.”
What he didn’t say: Trump didn’t say if the two leaders had come to any agreements in terms of the Iran nuclear deal.
President Trump is set to hold a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel this afternoon. Here are some questions reporters might ask him:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that President Trump is “unlikely to stay” in the Iran nuclear deal. “absent a substantial fix, absent overcoming the shortcomings, the flaws of the deal, he is unlikely to stay in that deal past this May,” Pompeo said at a press conference in Brussels.
Pomepo did note that that no decision has been made on the fate of the deal.
The list of potential sites for a summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un have been narrowed to “two or three” locations, Trump said on Friday.
He said the US was working to set up a meeting “very shortly” with Kim, and he praised the inter-Korean talks that occurred overnight.
“A lot of very positive things happened over the past 24 hours,” Trump said.
He said the “relationships are building and building strongly” between the US and North Korea.
“This will be a great thing for the world,” he said.
Trump insisted he wouldn’t be played by the North Koreans, and contrasted his approach with that of past US presidents. “I don’t think he’s playing, no, I don’t think he’s playing.”
“This isn’t like past administrations,” he said. “We don’t play games.”
The House Intelligence Committee today released a redacted version of the Republican report on the committee’s year-long Russia investigation, in which, GOP members say, they found no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
President Trump was just asked about it.
He added: “With that all being said, if we can get along with Russia, that’s aood thing, not a bad thing. But there’s been nobody tougher on Russia than me. I was very honored by the report.”
One thing to note: Democrats say Republicans failed to interview key witnesses and issue subpoenas to obtain necessary information, and were not interested in uncovering collusion. They are now continuing their own investigation without Republicans into Russia’s election meddling, and released a 98-page minority views document that pushes back on the Republican conclusions.
President Trump just welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House. Here’s what he said:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be visiting the White House on Friday. After the pomp and circumstance that accompanied the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, Merkel’s will be a staid and sombre affair.
In all, Merkel will have little more than two hours with President Trump, slotted in just before the weekend starts.
President Trump just greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House.
The two will have a press conference around 1:50 p.m. ET.
President Trump sent a flurry of tweets again Friday morning, which touched on everything from James Comey (“He’s either very sick or very dumb”) and the Korea summit (“Good things are happening, but only time will tell!”) to Kanye West (“has performed a great service to the Black Community”).
Here are some of those tweets:
President Trump welcomes his second major European leader of the week Friday, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel comes to the White House for meetings.
Even amid their very friendly public appearances, the differences between Trump and French President Macron were evident this week: on Iran, their world view, trade and climate change.
And Trump doesn’t share the same outwardly warm relationship with Merkel, though he did tweet this morning that he’s looking forward to the visit.
The trappings of this will be noticeably different than Macron’s – no pomp and circumstance-filled arrival ceremony, no helicopter tour of Washington or trip to Mt. Vernon, and no State Dinner.
This will be a handshake at the door, a meeting in the Oval Office and a Cabinet Room working lunch.
But the goal is the same: to bring Trump around to re-engaging with Europe – and the world – on everything from the Iran nuclear deal to preventing tariffs, and in doing so, avoid triggering a trade war.
When we’ll see them: President Trump and Chancellor Merkel will hold a joint news conference at 1:50pm, moved from the Rose Garden into the East Room. We’ll also see the arrival on the White House driveway live at 11:40am, and tape turn of an 11:45am spray in the Oval Office.
With analysis by Atika Shubert
President Trump just wrapped up his visit with the US Olympians, saying he was on his way to his next meeting: a visit with Angela Merkel.
“Now I’m going to see and meet with Angela Merkel and well talk about the United States and Germany.”
Then, he asked the Olympic athletes for some diplomatic help.
Watch the moment:
Team USA female hockey player Amanda Kessel comes from a family of hockey players. Her brother, Phil, is a right winger playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Trump asked her about Kessel, and their “genes.”
Kessel joked, “You weren’t sure if I was as good as him.”
To which Trump responded, “I wasn’t sure but now I think you’re better.”
