China responds to US nuclear announcement

China has issued a blunt statement in the hours after Donald Trump’s meeting with Xi Jinping, responding to the president’s latest nuclear declaration.

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Donald Trump is in South Korea as he continues his Asia tour.

The US president said the two nations had “pretty much finalised” a trade deal – which in reality may mean a trade deal actually hasn’t been signed off yet. But Seoul has said it will invest $US350 billion in the US over many years and that the US will cut some tariffs to 15 per cent.

The White House has confirmed that Mr Trump will meet Xi Jinping on Thursday in South Korea. The high stakes one-on-one – which aims to lower economic tensions between Washington and Beijing – could last as long as four hours, Mr Trump said.

The US president also continues to muse about the possibility of an unconstitutional third term in office.

After saying he could run, he has now conceded that according to the US Constitution “it’s pretty clear” that he’s not which is “too bad”. But it’s still not a full throttled dismissal that, somehow, it couldn’t happen.

The Pentagon has said around 1000 US troops will be removed from Romania, on Europe’s eastern flank. While it represents a small number of America’s overall troops in Europe it will concern NATO that it’s merely the first reduction as worries about Russia only increase.

Read on for more updates.

Originally published as China responds to US nuclear announcement