U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday played down the chances of a quick deal to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons as a delegation from Pyongyang headed to meet him with a letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, suggesting a proposed summit may be back on.

Trump told Reuters he was still hoping for an unprecedented meeting with Kim on June 12 in Singapore to push for North Korean "denuclearization," although he conceded it might require more time to reach that goal.

"I'd like to see it done in one meeting," Trump said in an interview on Air Force One. "But often times that's not the way deals work. There's a very good chance that it won't be done in one meeting or two meetings or three meetings. But it'll get done at some point."