After ‘high-level’ diplomacy, North Korea may have reconsidered ‘Christmas gift’: National security adviser Robert O’Brien originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said that the president has engaged in “high-level” diplomacy with Kim Jong-Un and suggested on ABC’s “This Week” that maybe North Korea’s leader has reconsidered his threat of a “Christmas gift” to the U.S.
“Multiple administrations Republicans and Democrat, have dealt with this situation without success over the years. President Trump took a different tack with personal diplomacy and so far we’ve had some success” Robert O’Brien told ABC News White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl on Sunday.
“Kim Jong-Un promised to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and we want to hold him to that commitment and we hope he follows through with the commitment that he made in Singapore,” the national security adviser added.
(MORE: Trump downplays concerns of North Korea’s ‘Christmas gift’: Maybe it’s ‘a beautiful vase’)
North Korea’s vice minister of foreign affairs suggested the country would give the U.S. a “Christmas gift” in a statement earlier this month. That message put officials in the U.S. and South Korea on high alert for a potential long-range missile test over the holidays.
Trump dismissed those concerns on Tuesday, joking at his Mar-a-Lago resort that the gift could be a “beautiful vase.”
“Maybe it’s a nice present. Maybe it’s a present where he sends me a beautiful vase, as opposed to a missile test, right?” he said.
(MORE: ‘Stay vigilant’ with North Korea despite failure to deliver ‘Christmas gift’: Experts)
Talks between the U.S. and North Korea had stalled since negotiators last met in October.
A senior North Korean official called Trump a “heedless and erratic old man” earlier this month after the president tweeted about the country and its leader.
O’Brien’s predecessor, John Bolton, has criticized North Korea since leaving the post. He said he didn’t think North Korea would “ever voluntarily give up nuclear weapons” in a recent interview with NPR.
On “This Week,” O’Brien said the administration has diffused a high-tension situation, but like Bolton, the president has no illusions that this is a dangerous matter.
O’Brien, who was named as Bolton’s replacement in September, also responded to speculation that Trump was eyeing him as a potential replacement for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“I love the job I’ve got now, I get to work with the president every day and I’m very happy sitting where I am,” O’Brien told Karl.
“I hope and I expect Secretary Pompeo will stay. I spoke with him about this two nights ago, he said he’s not running for Senate. He said he’s staying as Secretary of State and this is one American that’s very pleased that the president picked Mike.”
This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.