President Donald Trump called off a planned summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un on Thursday, and also warned Kim about America’s “massive” nuclear capabilities, saying he prayed they won’t have to be used.
SUMMIT ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ TRUMP TELLS KIM
In a letter to Kim released by the White House, Trump said he was nixing the planned June 12 Singapore summit “based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement.” The Dow Jones Industrial Average’s DJIA, -0.81% opening loss steepened after Trump’s letter was released. The South Korean won USDKRW, +0.66% also slumped as Trump canceled the summit.
Trump appeared to be referring to a North Korean official’s calling Vice President Mike Pence a “political dummy” and saying Pyongyang was ready for a nuclear showdown if dialogue with the U.S. fails.
See full text of Trump’s letter to Kim Jong Un.
See: From ‘Covfefe!’ to ‘Little Kim,’ congressional reaction to news North Korea summit canceled is blunt.
BANK BILL SIGNING
Trump was scheduled to sign a deregulation bill that gives a measure of relief to major banks, outside of money-center giants. The bill — the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act — includes breaks that essentially eliminate the possibility of designation as a systemically important financial institution for all but the biggest banks.
Read MarketWatch’s story on the bill.
CLAPPER FEUD CONTINUES
On Twitter, Trump said former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper “has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign.” Clapper said earlier this week on ABC’s “The View” that the FBI wasn’t spying on Trump’s campaign but was trying to determine if Russians were “trying to gain access.” Clapper said Trump should be happy that the FBI was trying to understand if there was Russian infiltration — something that set Trump off earlier this week. “No, James Clapper, I am not happy,” Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Clapper has now admitted that there was Spying in my campaign. Large dollars were paid to the Spy, far beyond normal. Starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history. SPYGATE - a terrible thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2018