President Donald Trump's recent praise of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is based on the conversations surrounding the pending summit, but sanctions will continue "until we see some of the words they've made go into concrete action," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.
"The president's referencing the conversations that we've had ongoing over the last month or so in regards to the meeting to take place and their willingness to denuclearize on the peninsula," Sanders said at the daily briefing.
Trump on Tuesday described Kim as "very open" and "very honorable" in comments to reporters while hosting French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House.
"We have been told directly that they would like to have the meeting as soon as possible," the president said. "We think that's a great thing for the world."
The summit remains set for late May or early June — and, despite President Trump's praise, the U.S. will keep the restrictions on North Korea until Kim denuclearizes.
"We think the maximum-pressure campaign is working, but we're not going to let up on that campaign until we see some of the words they've made go into concrete action," Sanders said, "but they're moving in the right direction."
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