Trump: No, the US didn't pay North Korea for Otto Warmbier's medical bills

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States did not pay any money to North Korea as it sought the release of Otto Warmbier, a day after a report said Trump had approved a $2 million bill from Pyongyang for the American student's care.

"No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else," Trump wrote in a tweet.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1121733749757087750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1121733749757087750&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftaskandpurpose.com%2Fres%2Fcommunity%2Ftwitter_embed%2F%3Fiframe_id%3Dtwitter-embed-1121733749757087750%26created_ts%3D1556277141.0%26screen_name%3DrealDonaldTrump%26text%3DNo%2Bmoney%2Bwas%2Bpaid%2Bto%2BNorth%2BKorea%2Bfor%2BOtto%2BWarmbier%252C%2Bnot%2Btwo%2BMillion%2BDollars%252C%2Bnot%2Banything%2Belse.%2BThis%2Bis%2Bnot%2Bthe%2BOba%25E2%2580%25A6%2Bhttps%253A%252F%252Ft.co%252FkJK9TTdoly%26id%3D1121733749757087750%26name%3DDonald%2BJ.%2BTrump

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Trump had approved payment of a $2 million bill from Pyongyang to cover its care of the comatose college student, who was held in a North Korean prison for 17 months until June 2017.

The Treasury Department received the bill from North Korea and it remained unpaid through 2017, the Post reported. It was not clear whether the administration paid the invoice later.

Trump's tweet did not address whether any agreement had been made, and representatives for the White House and the State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student from Ohio visiting North Korea as a tourist, was imprisoned in January 2016. He was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for allegedly trying to steal an item with a propaganda slogan from his hotel, North Korean state media said.

Warmbier died six days after his release from North Korea. An Ohio coroner said Warmbier died from a lack of oxygen and blood to his brain. North Korea, which has dismissed claims that it tortured the student, blamed food poisoning and a sleeping pill.

Last December, a U.S. court ordered North Korea to pay $501 million in damages for the torture and death of Warmbier.

In his tweet on Friday morning, Trump defended his handling of hostage negotiations and slammed efforts by his Democratic predecessor

What if we did? My thoughts, too. I’d have paid for his imprisonment, too. As I understand it, his parents are communists and he was on what amounted to a communist youth group tour. He behaved so abominably that even the commies couldn’t tolerate it.

If that is anywhere near the truth, isn’t his fate something we should hold out as an example to other Americans who want to be commies?

Warmbier was studying for a degree in commerce and economics. Part of this study program was a year abroad, and he figured to study China. Somewhere in this planning process, he comes across this one company which offers a tour into North Korea. For whatever reason, he got curious (maybe stupid)....and signed up. The crime here, that got him into serious trouble....at the conclusion of this short trip, he noticed some propaganda poster at the hotel, and took it. At the airport, they went through his bag and found the poster. Stealing the poster was a crime, and he got a 15-year sentence for that.

My take was that they figured that they could get Obama to react and ‘service’ them. Obama did absolutely nothing. Election occurs, and Trump comes into the picture. State Department does some talking (under Rex). There’s been discussion about the beating, and some evidence does suggest that he was in a vegetative state for over twelve months (summer of 2016 when this beating occurred). It’s not what I’d call really factual.

On the parents, I don’t think I’d classify them as communists. Otto (and his mother) were Jewish, but it doesn’t figure into the story. Fairly smart kid in school, but once he made that decision about visiting North Korea....he screwed up, and that poster business was simply the cherry on the cake. I think if he’d approached them and asked if they sold them...they probably would have pulled one out for $50. But this was all supposed to be a way to get Obama into a cooperative game, and it failed miserably.

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