Donald Trump has admitted he will go into a second summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un later this week with expectations substantially reduced from when they first met in Singapore last year.

The US would be “happy” with the outcome of the talks in Vietnam “as long as there’s no testing”, Mr Trump said, a reference to the continuation of a pause on nuclear and missile tests that has been in place in North Korea since late 2017.

After his first summit with Mr Kim in June last year, the US president tweeted there was “no longer a nuclear threat” from North Korea – a claim the secretary of state Mike Pompeo has now admitted was untrue.

And speaking on Sunday night to a gathering of governors at the White House, Mr Trump declared he was no longer in a “rush” for Pyongyang to prove it was abandoning its weapons.

“I’m not in a rush. I don’t want to rush anybody, I just don’t want testing. As long as there’s no testing, we’re happy,” he said.

Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Show all 20 1 /20 Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim leave following their historic meeting AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim sign a document committing to peace between their nations, amongst other things EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump holds up a document that both he and Mr Kim have signed AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un The two leaders reach out to shake hands for the first time AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim shake hands as they meet for the first time Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim walk off stage, following their historic meeting Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim take a stroll after their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim interrupt their stroll to talk to the media AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim and Mr Trump look out over a balcony at the Capella hotel, where they held their meeting on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump takes questions at the press conference following his meeting with with Mr Kim AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump appreciates the crowd in the press conference following his meeting with Mr Kim Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with Kim Jong Un on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Kim Jong Un travels to the Istana ahead of the summit with President Trump on June 12 Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Kim poses for a photo with Singapore's Finance Minister Vivian Balkrishnan and Education Minister Ong Ye Kung ahead of the summit with Mr Trump Twitter/Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump shakes hands with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, meeting on Monday June 11 in the Istana, Singapore's presidential palace AP Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un At a working lunch on Monday, Singapore's Prime Minister surprised Mr Trump with a birthday cake, in early celebration of his 72nd birthday later in the week EPA Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo answers questions about the summit at a press briefing in Singapore on Monday, June 11 Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un US President Donald Trump arrives at the Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on June 10, two days prior to his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Reuters Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump and Mr Kim met on Tuesday June 12 in the Capella hotel on the island resort of Sentosa, just off the south coast of Singapore AFP/Getty Singapore Summit: historic first meeting between Trump and Kim Jong-un Mr Trump boards Air Force One following the summit AFP/Getty

In statements on Twitter and elsewhere on Sunday evening on the eve of his departure for Vietnam, the US president spoke in gushing terms about how, with the dictatorial Mr Kim at the helm, North Korea had “more potential for rapid growth than any other nation”.

“Chairman Kim realises, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the world,” Mr Trump wrote, attributing this potential to “its location and people (and him)”.

The two leaders will meet in Hanoi on Wednesday and Thursday, eight months after their historic summit in Singapore, the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

And according to reporters at Sunday’s black-tie Governors’ Ball, Mr Trump boasted of having “developed a very very good relationship” with Mr Kim. He added: “We’ll see what that means. But he’s never had a relationship with anybody from this country, and hasn’t had lots of relationships anywhere.”

Amid concerns over what Mr Trump might agree to in order to secure a foreign policy victory, Democratic senators and security officials have warned against any deal that does little to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

As Mr Kim made his way across China by train for the summit, North Korean state media warned the US presidency not to listen to critics who, it said, were disrupting efforts to improve ties.

A South Korean presidential spokesperson told reporters in Seoul the two sides might agree to declare a formal end to the 1950-1953 Korean War at the summit.

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The war ended in a truce, not a treaty, and the North has long called for a treaty to end it. It also wants security guarantees.

The US has for years demanded North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation, before any concessions will be granted.