Questions Remain After The Historic North Korean Summit
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- President Donald Trump is telling Americans they can sleep better now that he's convinced North Korea to toss their nuclear weapons, but questions remain about exactly how and when that will happen.
CBS2's Dick Brennan has more on the historic summit.
Trump exited Air Force One, back on American soil after his summit with North Korea, in which both sides took the first steps on a deal to denuclearize the peninsula, but Trump was already firing away at critics of his deal with Kim Jong Un.
He tweeted, "So funny to watch the Fake News... They are fighting hard to downplay the deal with North Korea. 500 days ago they would have begged for this deal-looked like war would break out... No longer - sleep well tonight!"
Vice President Mike Pence echoed the president's earlier remarks.
"We now will trust, but verify," said Pence. "And as the president said, our sanctions will remain in place until North Korea's nuclear weapons are no longer a factor. We will not repeat the mistakes of the past."
The President says he wants Congress to approve a final deal. Some Democrats welcomed the President's initiative, including New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.
"I'm very grateful that President Trump is trying diplomacy as oppose to military action because that's was what his first take was," said Gillibrand. "So, I am grateful that he is making the effort to try diplomacy and to try to bring people together towards a peaceful resolution."
But others say the document signed by Trump and Kim was vague.
"It's unfortunately a lot of sizzle, but no steak," said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. "More than that, I worry that he's given up a lot now."
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday, and will then head to China to continue the briefing process.
Former Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Sandy Winnefled, said the summit was a good first step.
"I think this was a pretty good start to a good future," said Winnefled. "The question now is what comes next? This was easy compared to what comes next in terms the very, very difficult negotiations."
Pompeo says he expects detailed talks to resume next week. He told reporters that U.S.-South Korea military exercises will resume if North Korea stops negotiating in good faith.
