On Thursday this week, the Trump administration canceled the much-anticipated June 12 summit with North Korea.

"Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting," Trump said in a letter addressed to Kim.

North Korea has already taken steps towards dismantling a nuclear test site, and made a show of good faith by releasing three American prisoners earlier this month. In the weeks leading up to the cancellation, however, tensions were again rising.

In a statement issued earlier in May, Kim Kye Gwan, a North Korean vice foreign minister, hinted that North Korea would not agree to a "unilateral nuclear abandonment." The day before Trump announced the cancellation, another vice minister, Choe Son Hui, threatened a nuclear standoff if negotiations failed. Upset that the US and South Korea had conducted joint military exercises off the Korean Peninsula, North Korea also abruptly canceled planned talks with South Korea. North Korean officials also personally insulted members of the Trump administration, including US Vice President Mike Pence, who garnered Choe Son Hui's opprobrium after he made an unflattering comparison between North Korea and Libya. Relations grew strained to the point that North Korea suspended communication with the US in the week leading up to Trump's cancellation.

The cancellation apparently took South Korea, which had helped to broker the talks, by surprise. North Korea responded to the cancellation with a somewhat conciliatory statement in which it claimed that it would meet with Trump "at any time." Trump in turn dialed back his tone, telling reporters that he might still be open to meeting with Kim Jong Un, perhaps even on the original planned date.

Meanwhile, Trump's legal advisers are trying to limit the scope of questions special counsel Robert Mueller can ask in any in-person interview. Trump's attorneys are also pressuring Mueller to end his investigation as soon as possible.

Trump has demanded, via Twitter, that the Justice Department investigate "whether or not the FBI/DOJ infiltrated the Trump Campaign for political Purposes." US officials have denied that any confidential source was embedded within Trump's campaign. Trump has persisted with this narrative in spite of a lack of evidence, saying, "If they had spies in my campaign, during my campaign for political purposes, that would be unprecedented in the history of our country."

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, had his White House security clearance restored on Wednesday this week. Kushner's security clearance was revoked in February upon review of the procedures covering access to sensitive secrets. The Mueller probe also affected Kushner's access, as some of the inquiry relates to Kushner's role during the presidential campaign and transition, including the dismissal of former FBI Director James Comey. Kushner has cooperated with Mueller's investigation, submitting to questioning once in November 2017 and again in April 2018. White House officials said the delay was primarily due to backlogs and the complicated nature of his security application, and disputed that Kushner's failure to disclose certain foreign contacts on his initial application played any role in the holdup.