President Trump’s decision to walk away from a bad nuclear deal with North Korea won exceptional praise from Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, who said Thursday the president deserves credit for being willing to forgo a weak agreement.

“President Trump did the right thing by walking away and not cutting a poor deal for the sake of a photo op,” Mr. Schumer said as the Senate convened.

He challenged the president to take the same approach to negotiations with China, saying he must “have the courage to do the same thing” and walk away if he doesn’t get a good deal on trade negotiations.

The encouragement from Mr. Schumer came after the president put an early end to talks in Vietnam with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Mr. Trump said the communist nation’s leader wanted the U.S. to drop crippling economic sanctions, but he wasn’t willing to give up the nuclear production sites the president has demanded in exchange for that move.

“Sometimes you have to walk. And this was just one of those times,” the president said afterward. “I’d much rather do it right than do it fast.”

That wasn’t enough for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who chided the president for negotiating in the first place.

“I guess it took two meetings for him to realize Kim Jong-un is not on the level,” she said.

She said the Korean leader emerged from the talks the “big winner.”

The California Democrat said she will always support diplomacy, “but the prospect for success seemed dim in light of the insincerity of Kim Jong-un.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was right for Mr. Trump to try, and also right for him to cut off talks when it became clear Mr. Kim was not willing to come forward with an acceptable offer.

“High-level diplomacy can carry high-level risks, but the president is to be commended for walking away when it became clear insufficient progress had been made on denuclearization,” the Kentucky Republican said.

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