• The White House brushed aside North Korea’s threats to cancel the summit meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong-un next month, saying the U.S. was “hopeful” it would happen but would be fine if it did not. After objecting to military exercises, North Korea also rejected Washington’s demand that it quickly dismantle its nuclear program. And it singled out John Bolton, above right, Mr. Trump’s new national security adviser, for criticism: “We do not hide our feelings of repugnance towards him.”The State Department said it would continue planning for the meeting in Singapore, but the news was a familiar pattern from Pyongyang: diplomatic outreach, followed by erratic behavior. And in an apparent rebuke of Mr. Trump, former Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson warned in a commencement address on Wednesday that American democracy was threatened by a “growing crisis in ethics and integrity.”

Source: New York Times May 16, 2018 19:59 UTC