Washington: One of President Donald Trump's more controversial pledges at his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - that the United States would halt joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula - touched off confusion on Capitol Hill as an influential GOP senator asserted the exercises would nonetheless continue.

That was apparently the message delivered by Vice President Mike Pence to Senate Republicans during a private lunch earlier Tuesday, according to Senator Cory Gardner, a Republican - although that was immediately disputed by Pence's office.

US Vice-President Mike Pence. Credit:AP

"I think what the vice president said today - and we'll continue to clarify what the president had talked about - exercises will continue with South Korea," Gardner said during a news conference with other GOP leaders. "I look forward to further comment and clarification from the president when he gets here."