President Donald Trump said Thursday, hours after calling off a planned nuclear disarmament summit with North Korea, that the event planned for June 12 in Singapore isn't completely dead.

But he warned Kim Jong-un that the United States military stands ready to jump into the breach if he tries anything 'foolish.'

'Hopefully everything's going to work out well with North Korea, and a lot of things can happen, including the fact that perhaps – and we'd wait – it's possible that the existing summit could take place or a summit at some later date,' Trump said before a bill-signing event in the White House's Roosevelt Room.

'Nobody should be anxious,' he counseled. 'We have to get it right.'

Moments earlier he declared that he had 'decided to terminate' the meeting and challenged dictator the dictator Kim to scrap his nuclear ambitions in favor of joining the civilized world and escaping the West's economic stranglehold.

'All of the Korean people, North and South, deserve to be able to live together in harmony, prosperity and peace,' Trump said, but 'that bright and beautiful future can only happen when the threat of nuclear weapons is removed. No way it can happen otherwise.'

'If and when Kim Jong-un chooses to engage in constructive dialogue and actions, I am waiting,' he continued, punctuating the last three words.

'In the meantime, our very strong sanctions, by far the strongest sanctions ever imposed, and maximum pressure campaign, will continue as it has been continuing.'

President Donald Trump said Thursday at the White House that a nuclear summit with North korea's dictator, which he had canceled hours earlier, might still take place – but he warned Kim Jong-un that America's military might stands ready to keep him in check

Kim was to meet with Trump on June 12 in Singapore but Trump called off the meeting in a strongly worded letter after a North Korean official hurled insults at Vice President Mike Pence

'You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never be used,' Trump wrote to Kim

Trump said he's talked with Defense Secretary James Mattis (pictured), who assured him that America's military might is locked and loaded

'Ready to fight tonight': Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told reporters that the Defense Department stands ready to intervene on the Korean peninsula

Trump's letter to Kim on Thursday boasted of America's gargantuan nuclear arsenal, and he drove the point home at the White House.

'I've spoke to General Mattis and the Joint Chiefs of Staff,' he said. 'And our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere the world – that has been greatly enhanced recently, as you all know – is ready if necessary.'

'Likewise I have spoken to South Korea and Japan, and they are not only ready should foolish or reckless acts be taken by North Korea, but they are willing to shoulder much of the cost of any financial burden, any of the costs associated by the the United States, in operations if such an unfortunate situation is forced upon us.'

'Hopefully, positive things will be taking place with respect to the future of North Korea,' Trump told an audience of one watching in Pyongyang. 'But if they don't, we are more ready than we have ever been before.'

Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told reporters that the Defense Department represents one prong of Trump's 'maximum pressure' strategy, which combines economic sanctions, diplomatic tension and the weight of a constant military presence.

'We are ready to fight tonight. That's always been the case,' said White.

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio threw a Twitter jab at Kim, writing that withdrawing from talks 'is 100% the right decision.'

'In the words of a wise man, “Congratulations, you just played yourself”,' Rubio added, addressing him directly.

'#KJU doesn’t want a deal. He has deliberately sabotaged the talks over the last two weeks & was setting us up to take the blame.'

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, took a shot at Kim on Twitter, saying the North Korean despot never wanted to negotiate and 'was setting us up to take the blame'

On the Democratic side of the aisle, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez chided Trump in a statement that read: 'The art of diplomacy is much harder than the art of the deal.'

'We should have never legitimized a pariah regime without first setting clear boundaries,' Menendez argued. 'But in hastily agreeing to a summit and then being the one to walk away, President Trump must understand he has now weakened and further isolated the United States. Our allies and partners in the region are left questioning our reliability. Our leverage is less today than it was yesterday.'

Menendez is the highest ranking Dmeocrat on the powerful Foreign Relations Committee.

The president had called off his summit just hours earlier after a North Korean official hurled insults at Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump wrote that it would be 'inappropriate' to hold talks after his regime again tested the limits of his patience: 'You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never be used.'

North Korea's vice foreign minister had slammed Pence for his 'unbridled and impudent remarks that North Korea might end like Libya.'

Choe Son Hui also said the future of the summit between Pyongyang and Washington was 'entirely' up to the United States.

Trump wrote to Kim that as a result of the 'tremendous anger and open hostility,' he was pulling out of the June 12 meeting.

'I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,' Trump wrote. 'Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place.'

North Korea called Vice Presidnet Mike Pence 'ignorant and stupid' for comments he made comparing the state to Libya. The vice president is pictured on Wednesday in Connecticut

Kim's government had just hours earlier publicly destroyed much of its Punggye-ri nuclear test site.

Trump went on to say he hoped to meet Kim one day, and that previous dialogues between the two nations remained promising.

Trump's letter to Kim followed a string of threats from the North to call off the summit that had been brokered to discuss a commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Choe Son Hui, North Korea's vice foreign minister, said: 'We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us'

The president told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that he'd know whether he was moving forward with the Singapore summit 'next week.' That was before North Korea's latest volley, which included the assault on Pence.

'We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us,' said Choe Son Hui, according to a report by North Korea's central news agency on Thursday.

She added: 'I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice-president.'

'We could surmise more than enough what a political dummy he is (Pence), as he is trying to compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya that had simply installed a few items of equipment and fiddled around with them.'

Pence was a focal point in the initial stages of diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea.

He attended the Opening Ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympic Games in February alongside Kim's sister, Kim Yo Jong. He did not talk to the North Korean emissary during the games, instead previewing during the trip another round of U.S. sanctions.

In a Monday in an interview with Fox News that came as the summit hung in the balance, Pence responded to North Korean complaints about comments that had been made by Trump national security advisor John Bolton.

'You know, there was some talk of the Libyan model last week. And as the president made clear, this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal,' he said.

Pence warned, 'It would be a great mistake for Kim to think he could play Donald Trump.'

I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice-president. We could surmise more than enough what a political dummy he is (Pence), as he is trying to compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya that had simply installed a few items of equipment and fiddled around with them North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on Mike Pence's interview with the Fox News Channel

'We really hope that Kim Jong-un will seize the opportunity to dismantle his nuclear weapons program, and do so by peaceable means.'

In the letter calling off the June 12 summit, Trump indicated he'd be open to putting a new date on the calendar for talks with Kim, who he again thanked for releasing three American hostages earlier this month.

'I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters,' he said. 'Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.'

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was testifying on Capitol Hill on Thursday, in what was slated to be a hearing about the State Department's budget, when the White House circulated Trump's letter.

'I don't believe ... that we're in a position to believe that there could be a successful outcome,' he told Senate Foreign Relations Committee members. 'I think that's what the president communicated pretty clearly in his letter.'

In a Monday in an interview with Fox New's Martha MacCallum that came as the summit hung in the balance, Pence said, 'You know, there was some talk of the Libyan model last week. And as the president made clear, this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn't make a deal'

Pompeo said that the U.S. had reached out to North Korea about its own threats to cancel talks, 'and we had received no response to our inquiries from them.'

'I think the American team is fully prepared. I think we're rocking. I think we're ready. I think we're prepared for this meeting. I think President Trump is prepared for this meeting,' he said.

'We were fully, fully engaged over the past weeks to prepare for this meeting. So I disagree with your assessment that the Americans are not ready.'

Trump's decision to postpone the nuclear summit was cautiously endorsed by Sen. Democratic leader Chuck Schumer as the Senate came into session on Thursday.

'On the very recent news that President Trump has canceled the planned summit with Kim Jong-un of North Korea: The fear many of us had was that the summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un would be a great show that produced nothing enduring,' Schumer stated. 'If a summit is to be reconstituted, the United States must show strength and achieve a concrete, verifiable, enduring elimination of Kim Jong-un's nuclear capabilities.'

Pompeo said on Wednesday that Trump was prepared to 'walk away' from the talks if it sensed that they're headed in the wrong direction.

The diplomat who has twice met with Kim in North Korea since the beginning of April told lawmakers during a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, 'We have a generational opportunity to solve a major national security challenge.'

'We are clear-eyed about the regime's history. It's time to solve this once and for all. A bad deal is not an option,' the president's point-man on the summit asserted. 'The American people are counting on us to get this right. If the right deal is not on the table, we will respectfully walk away.'

Revisiting the topic on Thursday at a Senate hearing, Pompeo said, 'I've had discussions with Chairman Kim personally. There have been other discussions. I am going to reserve some space for us to be able to conduct these discussions outside of the public sphere ... I think we've made very clear what our objectives are.'

Vice President Pence is seeing watching the joint march by the athletes of both Koreas at the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang Olympics in PyeongChang earlier this year

Choe said she could suggest to Kim that North Korea reconsider the summit if the United States offends the North's good will

Trump on Tuesday in the Oval Office told journalists asking about the June 12 summit, 'We’re moving along. We’ll see what happens. There are certain conditions we want to happen. I think we'll get those conditions.'

He added, 'And if we don't, we won't have the meeting.'

'If it doesn’t happen, maybe it will happen later,' Trump said. 'Maybe it will happen at a different time.'

The U.S. president also said, 'There's a very substantial chance that it won't work out, and that's OK.'

South Korea's Moon Jae-in and Trump were meeting at the White House at the time to discuss the North's new demands.

The New York Times had also reported that Trump was considering backing out of the face-to-face talks that could turn into an embarrassment for him.

Trump is said to have surveyed aides the optics of Kim's own threats to cancel the June 12 meeting with Moon in a weekend phone call.

A satellite image provided by DigitalGlobe shows the Punggye-ri test site in North Korea as journalist prepare to visit the site ahead of its dismantling

North Korea is expected to demolish the site any day now as part of the peace process

It is located North Hamgyong Province and is the only known nuclear facility in the country

North Korea 'blows up its nuclear test site' in a series of explosions North Korea apparently demolished its nuclear testing site at Punggye-ri on Thursday in what the regime said was evidence of its willingness to disarm. Journalists watched a series of explosions at entrances to the complex, which has been used for all six of the North's nuclear tests. The explosions were reportedly centered on three tunnels into the underground site and a number of observation towers. Blown up: This satellite image from yesterday shows the Punggye-ri test site in North Korea, which has now reportedly been demolished It is not known to what extent the facility was damaged because nobody was allowed inside and no international observers were present. Experts have speculated that the site was only superficially damaged and that Kim could easily reopen it at short notice. Others believe that the site was already out of commission following a powerful nuclear test last year, and that North Korea is simply destroying evidence of its nuclear weapons program. 'There was a huge explosion, you could feel it. Dust came at you, the heat came at you. It was extremely loud,' Sky News' Tom Cheshire, who was among the journalists invited, wrote on the British broadcaster's website. Mr Cheshire added that the entrances to the tunnels had been 'theatrically rigged' with plastic explosives and 'wires everywhere'. Yonhap news agency, citing South Korean reporters at the scene, said multiple explosions were heard throughout the day, beginning at 11am (3am GMT) until 4.17pm. The tunnel complex below Mount Mantapsan is believed to be based on old Soviet and American designs and is used for North Korea's nuclear tests. After the latest and most powerful test, in September last year, the mountain shifted - leading to speculation that part of the complex collapsed and rendered in unusable Advertisement

Chung Eui-yong, national security adviser to Moon, told reporters en route to Washington that he was not only on the call 'no such thing happened' and he is '99.9 percent' sure the meeting in Singapore will move forward.

'We have perceived none of that,' Chung said of reported nervousness on the part of the U.S.

Trump said Tuesday for the first time that the summit could happen, just at a later date. 'It may not work out for June 12,' he said.

He said that he doesn't 'want to waste a lot of time' on talks and suspects that Kim doesn't either.

The U.S. president also said that he believes that Kim's surprise visit to Beijing in early May prompted the North Korean dictator to play chicken.

Trump said his trip to Beijing last year was 'two of the great days of my life.'

'I don't think anybody's ever been treated better in China in their history.'

But he said his counterpart in China, Xi Jinping, 'I think that President Xi is a world-class poker player.'

READ THE LETTER TRUMP SENT KIM CANCELING THEIR JUNE NUCLEAR SUMMIT Donald Trump abruptly called off his planned nuclear weapons summit with North Korean despot Kim Jong-un, citing insults Kim had lobbed at Vice President Mike Pence and warning him about the size and might of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Trump addressed a letter to Kim personally, and the White House released a copy of it on May 24: 'Dear Mr. Chairman: North Korean President Kim Jong-un 'We greatly appreciate your time, patience, and effort with respect to our recent negotiations and discussions relative to a summit long sought by both parties, which was scheduled to take place on June 12 in Singapore. We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant. I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting. Therefore, please let this letter serve to represent that the Singapore summit, for the good of both parties, but to the detriment of the world, will not take place. You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used. 'I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you. In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated.' 'If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write. The world, and North Korea in particular, has lost a great opportunity for lasting peace and great prosperity and wealth. This missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history.' Advertisement

'I think there was a little change in attitude from Kim Jong-un. So I don't like that,' he said. 'I can't say that I'm happy about it,' he said of the unexpected talks between Xi and Kim.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin had told DailyMail.com on Monday morning that the summit was still on.

'I don't think the president gets cold feet about anything, so I think as the president has said, right now it's still on, if that changes, you'll find out about it,' he said in response to reports that Trump is the one who could back down.

In his interview on Monday on Fox New's 'The Story' Pence had also said, 'The president remains open to a summit taking place, and we’ll continue to pursue that path even while we stand strong on the objective of denuclearization and extreme pressure campaign that’s underway today.'

Kim had been taunting the U.S. since last week over annual military exercises on the Korean Peninsula that are conducted in conjunction with South Korea. The joint exercises were a condition of talks, however the North decided to use them anyway as a cudgel.

The isolated regime also took issue with past statements that Bolton about denuclearization, leading the U.S. president to provide assurances last week that Kim would not be ousted if he abandons his nuclear weapons program.

North Koea's deputy foreign affairs minister rejected the United States' terms of nuclear abandonment, shunning the 'complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization' of the Korean Penninsula and the 'total decommissioning of nuclear weapons, missiles, biochemical weapons.'

He explicitly took issue with the U.S. position of 'abandoning nuclear weapons first, compensating afterwards' saying the proposed terms are 'essentially a manifestation of awfully sinister move to impose on our dignified state the destiny of Libya or Iraq which had been collapsed due to yielding the whole of their countries to big powers.'

Trump also said that he would not budge on total denuclearization of the peninsula, another facet of the meeting that Kim was refusing to agree to, yet said, 'I do think he's serious. I think he would like to see that happen.'

In advance of the letter informing North Korea that the summit was off, the White House had faced charges that Trump was becoming Kim's puppet.

'Nothing could be further from the truth,' Sarah Huckabee Sanders told a reporter asking if the dictator was the on driving policy in the Trump administration. 'But they’re the ones that extended the invitation; we’ve accepted it. If they want to meet, we’re happy to do that. If they don’t, as the President has said, we’ll see what happens. But we’re going to continue the maximum pressure campaign in the meantime.'

Trump said last week that he was willing to go 'onto the next step' if Kim backed away from the summit. He also said he was willing to guarantee that Kim would stay in power if he agrees to give up his nuclear ambitions.

'I'm willing to do a lot... He'll have protections,' Trump said. 'The best thing he could do is make a deal.'

Providing assurances to Kim, Trump said that the deal he intends to make with North Korea would keep the dictator in power. He said that Kim wouldn't be ousted like Libya's Muammar Gaddafi was after he voluntarily dismantled his nuclear program in order to normalize relations with the U.S.

'In Libya that deal was decimated. There was no deal to keep Gaddafi,' he said. 'The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country. We never said to Gaddafi, "Oh, we're going to give you protection. We're going to give you military strength. We're going to give you all of these things." We went in and decimated him, and we did the same thing with Iraq.'

With Kim it would be 'something where he'd be there, he'd be running his country. His country would be very rich,' Trump said.

'If we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-un will be very, very happy,' he said.