DONALD Trump’s government on Monday ruled out talks with North Korea over its nuclear programme and the fate of Americans being held there.
"We’ve been clear that now is not the time to talk,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters, reiterating a tweet from Trump at the weekend that was seen as undercutting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
"The only conversations that have taken place were that … would be on bringing back Americans who have been detained,” Sanders said. "Beyond that, there will be no conversations with North Korea at this time.”
Tillerson said on Saturday during a trip to China that the United States was directly communicating with North Korea on its nuclear and missile programs but that Pyongyang had shown no interest in dialogue.
Trump, who has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks, later dismissed any prospect of talks with North Korea as a waste of time.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump wrote on Twitter, using his sarcastic nickname for Kim.
