WASHINGTON — Florida lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pleased President Donald Trump walked away from the nuclear talks with North Korea. They said lifting all sanctions on North Korea at this stage would have been unacceptable, but now many are left wondering what might be next.
- No deal reached in US-North Korea Nuclear talks
- According to president, North Korea wanted too much
- President Trump remains committed to more talks in the future
“I would say the President held his ground," said Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida's 6th District. "He has been very clear that the North Koreans need to show demonstrable, verifiable denuclearization, taking meaningful action."
"When Kim Jong Un wanted everything, a total relief of sanctions for a relatively small step in shutting down a reactor when we know they have multiple others, then the President said no deal, and I support him in doing that,” Waltz explained.
President Trump says North Korea wanted too much to end its nuclear program, so he walked away.
"They wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, and we couldn't do that. They were willing to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, but we couldn't give up all of the sanctions for that," the President said in Hanoi.
However, North Korea’s foreign minister disputes that characterization, saying they only asked for partial sanctions relief, not a complete lifting.
Meanwhile, hours after the summit ended, the President’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen sat before Congress again behind closed doors.
“I thought that was very distasteful frankly to have that during the President’s negotiations with Kim Jong Un," Waltz said. "Despite all the criticism that the President would go over and just want to have a show for his own domestic gain, he really kept America’s interests first and foremost.”
Democrats also praised the President's decision to end the talks, but are still skeptical about his diplomatic efforts with North Korea.
"I’m certainly glad the President didn’t give away the store at this summit," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida 23rd District. "We now know that his advisors told him that this was likely to be the result. Perhaps he should lean on his advisors more and heed their advice so there’s more prep work done.”
The President remains committed to more talks in the future, but there are questions about how he can move forward.
“I think it’s important that the President doesn’t blink, and says, 'I want you to be prosperous, but you're going to be prosperous by denuclearizing,'" said Sen. Rick Scott.
The President's next big meeting is expected to be with Chinese President Xi to discuss trade and North Korea.