US national security adviser John Bolton insists Trump-Kim North Korea summit was not a failure

National security adviser John Bolton on Sunday defended President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying the president was right not to make a deal that wasn’t in the best interests of the United States.

“I don’t agree at all that it was a failed summit,” Bolton said on Fox News Sunday. “I think the obligation of the president of the United States is to defend and advance American national security interests. And I think he did that by rejecting a bad deal and by trying again to persuade Kim Jong-un to take the big deal that really could make a difference for North Korea.”

Trump abruptly cut short his meeting with Kim in Hanoi last week after the two leaders were unable to reach a deal to dismantle Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons. The president first met with the North Korean leader in June in Singapore.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was among those needling Trump about the collapse of the talks in Hanoi. At a news conference last week, the California Democrat suggested that it should not have taken Trump so long to recognise that Kim is not serious about denuclearisation.

“The prospect for success seemed dim in light of the insincerity of Kim Jong-un,” Pelosi said.

But Bolton maintained Sunday that Trump is “not desperate for a deal – not with North Korea, not with anybody – if it’s contrary to American national interests.”