Trump seeks to placate North Korea's Kim over uncertain summit

US President Donald Trump sought on Thursday to placate North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un after Pyongyang threatened to scrap an unprecedented summit, saying Kim's security would be guaranteed in any deal and his country would not suffer the fate of Muammar Gaddafi's Libya, unless that could not be reached.

In rambling remarks in the White House's Oval Office in which he also sharply criticized China over trade, Trump said that as far as he knew the meeting with Kim was still on track, but that the North Korean leader was possibly being influenced by Beijing after two recent visits he made there.

Trump distanced himself from comments by his national security adviser John Bolton that North Korea angrily denounced when casting doubt on the summit, which is planned for June 12 in Singapore.