Officials say Trump overstated Kim's demand on sanctions

ALTERNATE CROP OF KNS802 - In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, photo provided Friday, March 1, 2019, by the North Korean government, U.S. President Donald Trump, second from right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, second from left, talk at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. U.S. Sec. of State Mike Pompeo is at right. Kim Yong Chol, a North Korean senior ruling party official and former intelligence chief is at left. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

In this Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019, photo provided Friday, March 1, 2019, by the North Korean government, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, shake hands before their meeting at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

President Donald Trump said he walked away from his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because Kim demanded the U.S. lift all of its sanctions, a claim that North Korea's delegation called a rare news conference in the middle of the night to deny.

So who's telling the truth? In this case, it seems that the North Koreans are. And it's a demand they have been pushing for weeks in lower-level talks.

Trump's meeting with Kim ended abruptly and without agreements. Trump told reporters soon after the dispute over sanctions was the deal breaker.

But a senior State Department official who briefed the media acknowledged what Pyongyang was seeking was the lifting of sanctions that impede the civilian economy and people's livelihood — as the North claimed.