President Donald Trump told Vice President Mike Pence and other administration officials to tone down the rhetoric in the weeks before his historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, it was revealed on Sunday.
Trump had led the tough talk against Kim earlier in his administration, calling him a ‘rocket man’ in his September speech to the United Nations.
But as then-CIA director Mike Pompeo prepared to go to North Korea over Easter weekend, the president changed his tune, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The president surprised top advisers by urging restraint, officials told the newspaper.
National Security Adviser John Bolton and Vice President Mike Pence were told to tone down their comments.
‘Mike, you got it?’ Trump told the vice president, a person in the room told the Journal. ‘No f***ing crazy talk from anybody in the administration.’
Trump also told Pompeo the administration wasn’t going to change its policy but also needed to give North Korea room to negotiate.
One White House aide said the president, in general, has ‘unrealistic expectations.’
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