WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump denied paying a $2 million medical bill to North Korea in order to secure the June 2017 release of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier.
"No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else," Trump said in a Friday morning tweet.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Pyongyang presented the U.S. with a $2 million medical bill before allowing Warmbier to be flown to the U.S., where he later died. The main U.S. envoy sent to get Warmbier signed an agreement to pay the invoice, according to two unidentified people cited by the Post.
A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News on Thursday that the U.S. rejected North Korea's request for payment before Otto Warmbier's release.
Following his hastily adjourned summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in February, Trump said he takes Kim "at his word" that he wasn't aware of North Korea's imprisonment and torture of Warmbier, who died after being detained for more than 17 months.
