Trump-Kim meeting: Democrats hit out at 'reality TV handshake' amid concerns over lack of specific promises from North Korea
Mr Trump says he trusts Mr Kim and that he believes the North Korean leader is sincere about his desire for denuclearisation
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump appears to have made a major concession to North Korea following his joint agreement with Kim Jong-un, ending joint military exercises with South Korea that he deemed “provocative” and “tremendously expensive”.
He said he also hoped to “bring home” the 32,000 US troops stationed in South Korea at some point in the future, but acknowledged such a move was not “part of the equation right now”.
In a press conference lasting more than an hour Mr Trump also said the North had begun dismantling a major missile engine testing site, and he praised Mr Kim as “very talented”.
Later, as Mr Trump's plane landed in Guam to refuel, Mr Trump told reporters that he trusted Mr Kim and that he believed the North Korean leader was sincere about his desire for denuclearisation.
“I can only tell you that from the time I’ve (dealt) with him, which is really starting 90 days ago," Mr Trump said. "I think he wants to get it done".
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At the end of the summitMr Trump and Mr Kim signed what Mr Trump claimed was a “comprehensive” document following the historic meeting aimed at the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. The president said he believed the process of denuclearisation would happen “very, very quickly”, adding that he had formed a “special bond” with Mr Kim.
Mr Kim who has been granted a measure of international legitimacy with the summit, said the two leaders had “decided to leave the past behind. The world will see a major change”.
In the first meeting of a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, the pair convened at a luxury resort on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, clasping hands as they stood on a red carpet in front of a backdrop of alternating US and North Korean flags. Mr Trump was first to arrive at the summit site, followed by Mr Kim, both readying for the 9am meeting that culminated dizzying weeks of negotiations over logistics and policy.
The pair started the momentous Singapore summit with an historic handshake for the world’s media before getting down to talks about North Korea’s nuclear programme.
Mr Trump and Mr Kim met one on one for about 40 minutes, joined only by translators. Then aides to each arrived for more discussions and a working lunch.
The US president said the meetings went “better than anybody could have expected” after the pair emerged from lunch and strolled together down a paved walkway before stopping and posing before the waiting news media.
Mr Trump said the meeting is “going great. We had a really fantastic meeting”. He added that there has been “a lot of progress. Really very positive”
It is believed that the signing will likely revolve around a promise to keep meeting.
The White House said discussions with North Korea have moved “more quickly than expected” and Mr Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night, after the summit. He had earlier been scheduled to leave on Wednesday. Mr Trump will visit military bases in Guam and Hawaii on his way back to Washington.
Teams of officials from both sides held working-level talks on Monday.
Senior officials travelling with Mr Trump included secretary of state Mike Pompeo, national security adviser John Bolton and White House chief of staff John Kelly. As Mr Trump was travelling to the Capella Hotel which was the site of the summit, he surprisingly tweeted about another senior official - economic adviser Larry Kudlow - with Mr Trump saying he had had a heart attack. The White House later said that Mr Kudlow was in a good condition in hospital having suffered a “very mild” heart attack.
Mr Kim’s delegation consisted of foreign minister Ri Yong Ho, defence minister No Kwang Chol and Kim Yong Chol, a close aide of Kim who has been instrumental in the diplomacy that culminated in Tuesday’s summit.
Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim’s younger sister, was also spotted in his delegation. She emerged as an influential figure in Pyongyang’s opaque leadership in February, when she led a North Korean delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea.
When Mr Trump initially agreed to meet with the North Korean leader, the US president spoke of his hope that their encounter could secure a major breakthrough and lead to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
If so, then the meeting would be the most important since Ronald Reagan met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva in November 1985.
Mr Trump has since sought to play down expectations, saying that the meeting will be an important first step, but that securing a deal will likely take many more meetings.
Given that what the US wants to get out of the summit, a rapid denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, may be different to what North Korea wants, there may be many such meetings. Many observers will be looking to see whether Mr Trump does extend an invitation to his counterpart to visit the White House.
North Korean state media has raised the prospect that the nation could “establish a new relationship” with the United States as leaders of the two countries meet.
On the eve of the summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, an editorial in Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea, said Mr Kim had travelled to Singapore with the intention of meeting the US leader and “meet the changing demands of the new era”.
According to the BBC, it added that “broad and in-depth opinions” would be exchanged to “establish a permanent and peaceful regime in the Korean peninsula and to solve problems that are of common concern, including issues to realise the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula”.
It added: “Even if a country had a hostile relationship with us in the past, our attitude is that if this nation respects our autonomy... we shall seek normalisation through dialogue.”
Read more:
The lobby of Donald Trump's hotel in Singapore has turned into a mixing ground for US government officials.
At the swanky and heavily guarded Shangri-La Hotel, Secret Service officers are huddled in preparation for the president's movements, while US Navy members in white uniforms perch on couches nearby.
Top State Department officials have been seen strolling through the lobby, as has CIA officer Andy Kim, a Korea expert who is part of US delegation.
They are joined at the hotel by tourists and travelling youth groups.
Police can be seen patrolling outside the complex, which was picked partly for its experience in hosting high-security events.
Top military officials including US defence secretary James Mattis were at the hotel at the beginning of this month for the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual global defence forum.
Donald Trump spoke to South Korean president Moon Jae-in by telephone today ahead of the US leader's historic meeting with Kim Jong-un.
Their conversation was confirmed by South Korea's presidential office, known as the Blue House, which did not give further details but said it would give a briefing later.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the two leaders discussed denuclearisation.
Mr Moon's spokesman, Kim Eui-kyeom, has previously said there are also no plans for Mr Moon to join his US and North Korean counterparts at the end of their meeting in Singapore.
Donald Trump also called the leader of Japan on Monday ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
That's according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who briefed reporters in Singapore. He says Mr Trump spoke by phone with the Japanese and South Korean leaders as preparatory talks continue between American and North Korean officials ahead of the leader sit-down Tuesday morning.
Mr Pompeo says there is "enormous potential" for the summit, but lowered expectations that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will happen after one meeting. He says: "We are hopeful the summit will have set the conditions for future productive talks."
Mr Pompeo also says Tuesday's meeting presents a test of Mr Kim's willingness to agree to deal his nuclear weapons away for "protections" from the United States.
Mike Pompeo says the US is prepared to take actions to provide North Korea with "sufficient certainty" that denuclearisation "is not something that ends badly for them."
Mr Pompeo was briefing reporters in Singapore. He says the US is prepared to show North Korea that rather than denuclearisation posing a threat to North Korea, it's "the opposite."
Mr Pompeo won't say whether Mr Trump would consider withdrawing US troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Mr Pompeo says that US sanctions on the North will remain in place until the North denuclearises. But he says if diplomacy fails to move in the right direction, the sanctions "will increase."
Also in that briefing, Mr Pompeo said the "ultimate objective" of a historic summit with North Korea had not changed and the US was "eager to see" if North Korea was sincere about denuclearisation.
The Trump-Kim talks are expected to centre on ending the North's nuclear weapons and missile programmes in return for diplomatic and economic incentives.
Mr Pompeo said Trump was "fully prepared" for the talks, and was optimistic that the outcome would be "successful", while warning that there was still "lots of work left to do".
And he bristled at a suggestion from a reporter that the US delegation did not have the expertise required to make sufficient progress at the summit.
Mr Pompeo said the president had his "most senior expert on weapons of mass destruction" as part of the American team in Singapore.
He said the behind the scenes talks had been "moving quite rapidly".
"The United States has been fooled before," Mr Pompeo said.
"We are going to ensure that we set up a system that is robust to verify the outcomes of the summit."
Iran says North Korea should be wary of negotiating with President Donald Trump following his withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Monday that North Korea should approach this week's summit with Trump with "awareness." He says Iran views Mr Trump and the US with "great pessimism," saying they are known for "quitting treaties and violating their commitments."
Mr Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the Obama administration had reached with Iran, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. The agreement required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Mr Trump has announced the restoration of US sanctions, while European leaders are trying to preserve the deal.
While attention remains on Singapore, the fallout from Donald Trump's ignominious spat with G7 allies in Canada continues to haunt preparations for tomorrow's summit.
The European Union has just come out in support of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau after Mr Trump branded him "dishonest" and "weak" following the G7 meeting in Quebec.
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said the EU "stands fully behind" the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting over the weekend.
He added that EU Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker thanked Mr Trudeau "for the excellent preparation and chairing of this challenging summit".
Mr Trump agreed to a G7 statement on trade, but withdrew from it later.
He complained he was blindsided by Mr Trudeau's criticism of his tariff threats during the premier's summit-ending news conference.
Mr Schinas added: "The European Union will continue to stand up for an international, rules-based, multilateral system."
The White House has said in a statement that the talks with North Korea are moving "more quickly than expected." The White House says President Trump now plans to depart Singapore on Tuesday evening local time.
The White House says Mr Trump will address the media on Tuesday following his summit with Mr Kim and depart Singapore at approximately 8pm. The president had been expected to leave Singapore on Wednesday morning.
With Kim Jong-un reported to be leaving at 2pm on Tuesday, that statement likely has more to do with Mr Trump wanting to leave on the same day as his counterpart rather than talks actually speeding up.
The summit is a rare high-profile foreign trip for a number of North Korean officials and they are seemingly looking to make the most of it. Here is something from Reuters:
Shortly after a group of suited North Korean diplomats set out from their Singapore hotel on Monday for talks with US officials, a bigger group of North Koreans headed out in summery shirts for some shopping.
For the delegation of dozens of officials, state media workers and security staff, the rare foreign trip is an opportunity to build diplomatic bridges and to explore the capitalist successes in Singapore, one of the world's wealthiest city-states.
The North Korean delegation is staying at the five-star St. Regis hotel where the lobby has a cream-coloured marble floor, chandeliers and large art works on the walls.
The hotel's lavish 47 Singapore dollar ($35) per person buffet breakfast costs about the same as what most North Koreans earn in a month.
Talking of officials, the troupe of bodyguards who run by Kim Jong-un's car are once again part of his security detail - having caused such a stir on social media during his meeting with South Korea's President Moon Jae-in last month
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