In the latest twist in Donald Trump's shifting strategy on North Korea, the U.S. president on Wednesday backed off a set timetable for Pyongyang to denuclearize, ahead of a planned visit next month to the North Korean capital by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"I think we're really going to do something that's going to be very important, but we're not playing the time game" with North Korea, Trump said during a televised news conference in New York. "If it takes two years, three years or five months — doesn't matter."
Trump's comments marked a stark contrast with a claim a week ago by Pompeo, who said that negotiations would lead to the "rapid denuclearization of North Korea, to be completed by January 2021," before the end of Trump's first term.