DONALD Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani says Kim Jong-un was so desperate for the meeting between the US and North Korea that he begged to reschedule it.

Mr Giuliani told a business conference in Israel that Mr Trump’s tough line had forced the North Korean leader’s hand.

Mr Giuliani said there was no choice but to cancel the June 12 summit after Kim insulted the US vice president and national security and threatened nuclear war.

“We said, ‘Well, we’re not going to have a summit under those circumstances,”’ Mr Giuliani said. “Well, Kim Jung-un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in.”

The summit is now back on for next Tuesday in Singapore.

Mr Giuliani suggested similar tactics should be used with the Palestinian Authority, which has cut off ties with the US to protest Mr Trump’s decision to recognise contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

“They have to be seeking peace. You gotta change the dynamic and put the pressure on them,” Mr Giuliani said.

Mr Giuliani has become a lightning rod during his tenure on Mr Trump’s team, drawing the president’s ire for a series of scattershot interviews.