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White House: Trump won't visit DMZ on upcoming Asia trip

Then U.S. President Barack Obama looks through binoculars to see North Korea from Observation Post Ouellette in the Demilitarized Zone in 2012. Photo: Susan Walsh / AP

A senior administration official told reporters Tuesday that President Trump will not visit the demilitarized zone on the North Korean border on his upcoming trip to Asia. The official said there isn't enough time, and that they had to choose between going to the DMZ or Camp Humphreys, and the camp prevailed.

Key quote: "There's been a minority of American presidents who have visited the DMZ since the Korean War, less than half," the official said. "[Defense Secretary James] Mattis was just there last week, we've had [Vice President Mike] Pence there... and [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson... it's become a little bit of a cliché really."

George W. Bush looks out at North Korea at Observation Point Ouellette in the DMZ in 2002.J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Bill Clinton takes the lens caps off a pair of binoculars in 1993 from the Ouellette guard post in the DMZ.Greg Gibson / AP
Ronald Reagan from the south side of the DMZ in South Korea in 1983.Scott Stewart / AP
Jimmy Carter waves to a crowd of military that greeted him on his arrival to camp Casey, just south of the DMZ in 1979 in Korea. AP