The Trump administration is continuing to work "very diligently" when it comes to North Korea, and sees the return of the presumed remains from U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War as evidence of the progress that is being made, according to Vice President Mike Pence.
"The only reason we are here today is because very early in our administration President [Donald] Trump took a strong stand and said that we would not tolerate the presence of nuclear weapons and missiles in the possession of North Korea that could threaten the United States or our allies," Pence told Fox News' Pete Hegseth on Wednesday in Hawaii, where he received 55 flag-draped caskets with the remains. The interview aired Thursday on "Fox and Friends."
"He took unprecedented steps to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear," said Pence. "While many worried about that approach, what it did was bring North Korea to the negotiating table, and in that historic summit, he secured not just the commitment to bring our heroes home, which began today, but also a commitment to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."
On Wednesday, the remains were escorted by military honor guards onto U.S. soil in Hawaii, 65 years after after the Korean War armistice and weeks after Trump got a commitment from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the return. An extensive analysis and identification process will begin soon, but military officials believe the bones are those of either service members from the United States or other United Nations members countries who fought on behalf of South Korea.
Pence said Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will return to North Korea again next week, but meanwhile, "we saw this promise kept by North Korea as evidence of the progress that we are making."
The vice president also discussed Trump's threat of a government shutdown over the matter of border security and a border wall, saying that the administration is working with Congress toward providing for the common defense.
"When it comes to border security, I know President Trump is prepared to take a strong stand and demand that this Congress respond to the American people, give us the funding to build a wall, to close those loopholes that are driving illegal immigration and human trafficking," said Pence.
He also talked about economic growth under Trump, calling it "extraordinary."
"I will never forget on the campaign trail in 2016 in September when then-candidate Donald Trump announced that we would have a national goal of 4 percent GDP growth in the economy," said Pence, noting the plan was widely rejected by economists.
"We're just getting started," he said. "When you see the tremendous increase in exports in the second quarter, when you see the tremendous increase in business investment. We see wages rising. I really do believe the best is yet to come."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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