Trump says North Korea meeting may be delayed, hints China is to blame

President Donald Trump on Tuesday cast fresh doubt on plans for his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the gathering may be postponed and suggesting Chinese President Xi Jinping may be responsible for the "change in attitude" from Kim.

Meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, Trump said there was a "very substantial chance" the talks could be postponed from the scheduled date of June 12 if the countries fail to come to terms on various issues. He also hinted that the Chinese leader may be behind North Korea's return to more aggressive rhetoric against the U.S.

“If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later,” Trump said of the meeting during an extended exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. “Maybe it will happen at a different time. But we will see. But we are talking.”

Questions have grown over whether the highly anticipated diplomatic talks will go on as planned on June 12 in Singapore due to recent criticism from Pyongyang of joint military exercises between the U.S. and South Korea. North Korea has also said it has no interest in a summit if the U.S. demands "unilateral nuclear abandonment.”

Trump on Tuesday floated that Kim's meeting with Xi earlier this month may be linked to his country's sudden hesitation to engage with the U.S. diplomatically.