Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have cut short their talks in Hanoi, Vietnam and skipped a scheduled lunch event.
The White House confirmed the summit had ended with “no agreement reached” as the leaders headed back to their respective hotels.
The US president talks broke down over North Korea’s demands on US-led sanctions.
“Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their entirety, but we couldn’t do that,” he told reporters. “Sometimes you have to walk.”
Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, said negotiations would continue at a future date.
Several Democrats came out acknowledging Mr Trump’s decision to walk away without a deal was the right move in this situation. Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff said walking away with no deal was better than agreeing to a bad deal, before adding that it was “the result of a poorly planned strategy.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoed similar statements, citing his concerns about the likelihood of a bad deal forming out of the summit.
“A deal that fell short of complete denuclearization would have only made North Korea stronger & the world less safe,” Mr Schumer said.
After the summit, Mr Trump also defended Mr Kim over the tragic death of American college student Otto Warmbier, who was jailed in North Korea in December 2015 for attempting to steal propaganda material during an organised tour.The president said he does not believe the autocratic leader was aware of Mr Warmbier’s condition in the North Korean hard labour prison camp.
"He tells me he didn't know about it, and I will take him at his word,” Mr Trump said.
After two years of imprisonment, North Korean authorities returned Mr Warbier to the US in a coma in July 2017. A few days later, the 22-year-old died in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ohio Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman criticised the American president’s defense of Mr Kim.
“I’m very concerned that the President didn’t seem to be all that concerned about the murder of Otto Warmbier from Cincinnati,” Mr Brown told reporters on Thursday. “I don’t know how he says he likes the dictator of NK so much.”
Mr Portman insists that Mr Trump and the American people must remember Mr Warmbier and that “we should never let North Korea off the hook for what they did to him."
Follow live updates below
Hello and welcome to The Independent's rolling coverage of the Donald Trump administration.
Today the Democrats begin their attempt to roll back President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency to siphon billions of dollars from the military to fund construction of a fence along the US-Mexico border.
Tuesday's vote in the Democratic-controlled House comes on legislation to revoke Trump's executive order from earlier this month and would send it to the Republican-held Senate, where it would take only a handful of defections to pass.
President Trump is likely to prevail in the end since he could use his first-ever veto to kill the measure if it passes Congress but the White House is seeking to minimise Republican support for the measure to avoid such an embarrassment.
The vote could be challenging for conservative lawmakers who view themselves as protectors of the US Constitution and the powers of the federal purse that are reserved for Congress. But the party's vote counters are confident the tally won't get near the two-thirds that would overturn a Donald Trump veto.
Democratic leaders said on Monday the vote is not about the merits of Mr Trump's wall but how the president is trampling on the Constitution by grabbing money he can't obtain through normal means.
"The beauty of the Constitution, the heart and soul of the Constitution, is the separation of power - co-equal branches of government to be a balance of power," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. "The Constitution spells out the responsibilities, giving the Congress of the United States, among other powers, the power of the purse. The president's power grab usurped that constitutional responsibility and fundamentally violates the balance of power envisioned by our founders."
"If Republicans vote their beliefs, we'll get a lot. If they vote their party, we won't get a lot," said Democratic House majority leader Steny Hoyer.
President Trump took to Twitter on Monday to urge Senate Republicans to stick with him:
Vice-president Mike Pence is expected to discuss the issue with Republican senators during their weekly private lunch. A Justice Department official is also expected to attend.
On Monday, North Carolina senator Thom Tillis became the second Republican senator, joining Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, to say he would vote to block the order. Congress must defend its power of the purse and warned that a future Democratic president might abuse the power to advance "radical policies," Senator Tillis said.
Senate voting on Donald Trump's emergency order could drag under a rarely used procedure, which is believed to be a first for the chamber.
The law allows for up to 15 days of committee review— in this case, at the Armed Services panel — with a full Senate vote three days later. Senators, though, said the process could be expedited.
At issue is President Trump's longstanding vow to build a wall along the 2,100-mile southwestern border, his signature campaign promise. He has long since dropped any pretense that money for the wall would come from Mexico, which he initially loudly claimed would be the source of funding.
Earlier this month, Congress approved a huge spending bill providing nearly $1.4bn (£1.1bn) to build 55 miles of border barriers in Texas's Rio Grande Valley, ending a dispute that had led to a record 35-day partial shutdown of the government.
The president had demanded $5.7bn (£4.3bn) for the project and the national emergency declaration grants him emergency powers to divert $3.6bn (£2.7bn) from military construction projects towards the wall.
Lawmakers in both parties are recoiling at the politically-toxic prospect of losing cherished projects at back-home military bases. The Defense Department has yet to identify, which projects may face the axe.
Yesterday, national security experts and former Republican lawmakers issued public declarations against Mr Trump's edict, saying that the situation along the southern border is not a genuine emergency and that Mr Trump is abusing his powers.
"We are aware of no emergency that remotely justifies such a step," wrote 58 former senior national security officials, including Republican Chuck Hagel, a former Nebraska senator and defense secretary. "Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the President to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border."
In addition, 28 Republican former House members and senators, many of them from the party's shrinking moderate wing, wrote an open letter declaring their opposition to Trump's emergency declaration.
"How much are you willing to undermine both the Constitution and the Congress in order to advance a policy outcome that by all other legitimate means is not achievable?" wrote the former Republican lawmakers, among them former Senator Richard Lugar, once the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"It was a lawless act, a gross abuse of power, and an attempt to distract from the fact that he broke his core promise — to have Mexico pay for the wall," said top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York.
Mr Trump's edict is also being challenged in the federal courts, where 16 Democratic-led states such as California are among those that have sued to overturn the order. The House may join in.
The president is currently on his way to Vietnam for his second nuclear summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, whom he hopes to persuade into abandoning the country's nuclear programme.
Here's The Independent's diplomatic editor Kim Sengupta on what to expect in Hanoi and whether it will amount to more than a mere photo opportunity.
What can we expect from second meeting between Trump and Kim?
Analysis: Kim Jong-un may find meeting transpires to be little more than photo opportunity for Donald Trump, writes Kim Sengupta
BlacKkKlansman director Spike Lee has responded to Donald Trump's attack on him yesterday.
Accepting the statuette for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Oscars on Sunday night, Mr Lee told the audience: “The 2020 presidential election is around the corner... Let’s all mobilise, let’s all be on the right side of history, let’s choose love over hate, let’s do the right thing.”
To which the president responded:
The filmmaker has since told Entertainment Weekly, “Well, it’s okee-doke, you know. They change the narrative. They did the same thing with the African-American players who were kneeling, trying to make it into an anti-American thing, an anti-patriotic thing, and an anti-military thing. But no one’s going for that.”
Here's Jack Shepherd.
Spike Lee responds to Trump's accusations of racism
Trump had called Lee's speech 'a racist hit on your president'The Spike Lee controversy was not the president's only inflammatory comment yesterday, far from it.
Last night he criticised Democrats in the Senate for voting against anti-abortion legislation, calling it "one of the most shocking votes in history of Congress".
"If there is one thing we should all agree on, it’s protecting the lives of innocent babies," he wrote.
↵
Kim Jong-un has arrived in Hanoi in high style - his limousine flanked by 12 jogging security guards - after travelling 2,500 miles across China by armoured train to attend his latest summit with Donald Trump.
Mr Kim's locomotive had earlier pulled into Dong Dang rail station on the border where it was met with a red carpet reception following the arduous 65-hour journey.
President Trump wrote this before departing:
Here's Chris Baynes.
Kim Jong-un arrives in Vietnam to red carpet reception ahead of Trump talks
Kim rolls into Hanoi in armoured limousine flanked by security guards after travelling 2,500 miles in bulletproof trainAnother of yesterday's dramas surrounding the president was the news he was being sued by former campaign staffer Alva Johnson, who alleges he kissed her without consent at a rally in Tampa, Florida, in August 2016.
The White House denied the accusation, branding it "absurd".
Trump kissed staffer during 2016 election campaign without her consent, lawsuit claims
White House denies allegations brought in lawsuit by Alva Johnson, calling them 'absurd'Here's Holly Baxter for Indy Voices on the latest sexual harassment scandal to embroil the perennially-embattled world leader.
Opinion: Alva Johnson could save us all from the Trump presidency — if we let her
There were a lot of people who took Trump at face value, not because they were stupid but because they were optimistic and hopeful. We achieve nothing by demonising such ex-MAGA evangelistsLooking for a reminder of all the women who have accused the president of misconduct? We've got you covered.
Ms Johnson becomes the 21st (!) alleged victim to come forward.
The full list of women who have accused Donald Trump of sexual assault
The president has been accused by dozens of women of sexual misconduct. Mr Trump has denied those allegationsIf all this weren't excitement enough, Michael Cohen is testifying this week!
Cohen will appear behind closed doors before the Senate Intelligence Committee today, followed by a public session before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday and the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, again in private.
Donald Trump's former friend and personal attorney is expected to tell US lawmakers Mr Trump asked him several times about a proposed Trump Tower skyscraper project in Moscow long after he secured the Republican presidential nomination.
Cohen's assertion that his former boss was inquiring about the project as late as June 2016, if true, would show the candidate remained personally interested in a business venture in Russia well into his presidential run. Cohen, scheduled to report to prison on 6 May, has already said he briefed Mr Trump on the project in June 2016.
As FBI special counsel Robert Mueller nears the end of a 21-month probe into whether the Kremlin meddled in the 2016 presidential election in collusion with the Trump campaign (an accusation denied by both camps), Cohen is set to offer lawmakers new information about the president's private affairs over the three consecutive days.
He is also expected to give lawmakers "granular details" about Mr Trump's $130,000 (£98,540) hush-money payments to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels, in exchange for her silence about an alleged extramarital affair with the real estate magnate turned statesman.
In addition, Cohen will offer new information on Trump's financial statements that "have never been produced before" relating to how Mr Trump represented the values of his assets in financial transactions and other matters, said the source.
Cohen pleaded guilty on 29 November last year to criminal charges including tax evasion, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. In December, he was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes including orchestrating payments to Ms Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election.
The New York lawyer once said he would "take a bullet" for his employer but has since turned against him. When Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, he implicated the president, who afterward called him a "rat" on Twitter.
Cohen's public testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday will be led by Democratic representative Elijah Cummings, who has said his panel with limit their questioning to avoid crossover with the two intelligence committees inquiring into the Trump camp's Russian ties.
That will put questions about "any financial or other compromise or leverage foreign actors may possess over Donald Trump, his family, his business interests, or his associates" off-limits for Mr Cummings' committee.
His panel will instead focus on President Trump's debts and payments "relating to efforts to influence the 2016 election," as well as his compliance with financial disclosure, campaign finance and tax laws, it said.
Possible conflicts of interest faced by Mr Trump, including at his Trump International Hotel in Washington, will be targets for the Cummings panel, as will the Trump Foundation and "efforts by the president and his attorney to intimidate Mr. Cohen or others not to testify," the committee said.
A US-China trade war represents the biggest threat to the global economy in 2019, according to research from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Fortunately, the threat posed by such a prospect appears to have been averted for now, after President Trump agreed to extend a truce over $200bn (£153bn) in tariffs on Chinese goods over the weekend.
A viral video clip of Mr Trump publicly contradicting his own trade representative, Robert Lighthizer, over the meaning of “memorandum of understanding” rather overshadowed the breakthrough, which nevertheless boosted markets yesterday.
Here's Caitlin Morrison.
US-China trade war biggest threat to global economy in 2019, research shows
Experts also warned that the impact of a no-deal Brexit could prove sizeable enough to dent global economic growthIn loosely-related news, Germans are now more inclined to trust China than America after two years of Donald Trump, Clark Mindock reports.
Germans trust China more than the US, survey finds
Poll found that more Germans see China as a good partner for their country than the USSenate Intelligence Committee chairman Richard Burr has said senators will be in attendance at the Michael Cohen hearing today, a departure from the committee's usual practice, where witness interviews are conducted by staff only.
Aides will ask questions on their behalf while they observe. He said no topics would be off limits and Cohen "should expect to get any question from anywhere about anything."
Senator Burr said committee members know a lot more than they did when they first interviewed Cohen, who later pleaded guilty to lying to the House and Senate intelligence committees about abandoning a Trump Organisation business proposal in Moscow in January 2016.
Burr suggested that the committee will take steps to ensure Cohen is telling the truth. "I'm sure there will be some questions we know the answers to, so we'll test him to see whether in fact he'll be truthful this time," he said.
Another member of the committee, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, said she will also sit in on the interview. She said she wants to see what kind of person Cohen is, and "how honestly he answers questions, how directly he answers questions."
Representative Elijah Cummings, leading tomorrow's House Oversight Committee grilling of Cohen, had this to say on the prospect, by way of a trailer:
"This is one moment in history. And when you get to my age, and you look back and you realise, these moments are very, very, very significant. It may very well be a turning point in our country's history, I don't know.".
"He's the only person that I know of who has accused this president of a crime," Mr Cummings said of Cohen.
"And so I think it's only fair to the president and to Michael Cohen and to the public that he come forward so that they'll have an opportunity to observe his demeanor, Republicans will be able to ask him questions, just like in a cross examination, and then they can make their own judgements."
A story about Kim Jong-un stopping his slow train across China to take a cigarette break is doing the rounds.
Footage by Japan's TBS TV showed Mr Kim, a habitual smoker, taking a pre-dawn fag break on Tuesday at Nanning train station, hours before his arrival in Vietnam for his summit with President Trump.
The video showed Mr Kim puffing a cigarette and talking with North Korean officials. A woman who appeared to be his sister - Kim Yo-jong, one of the most powerful individuals in North Korea - is seen holding a crystal ashtray.
Also on the platform is Hyon Song-wol, a North Korean ruling party elite and the leader of the famous girl band Moranbong. Hyon's inclusion in Mr Kim's delegation has raised speculation that cultural events could be part of the agreements reached between Washington and Pyongyang this week as they look for easier steps to improve relations.
Despite pushing an anti-smoking campaign in North Korea, Mr Kim is frequently seen with a cigarette in his hands.
In July 2017, North Korea's state broadcaster showed him casually smoking in front of one of his liquid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) as it underwent preparations for a test launch. State media also showed him and North Korean officials laughing and lighting up cigarettes following the success of the North's last ICBM test in November 2017.
Please allow a moment for our liveblog to load
