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.
Before embracing diplomacy in recent months, Donald Trump and his surrogates had repeatedly emphasised they were prepared to use military force against North Korea.
Senator Lindsey Graham, a hawkish South Carolina Republican and administration, doesn't think talks should mean taking the military option off the table. His call for Congress to authorise military force in the event that talks fail already drew rebukes from Democrats - and now from a fellow Republican, Rand Paul of Kentucky, who called Mr Graham "a danger to the country" for making the suggestion.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres had some optimistic words ahead of the summit. He praised Mr Trump and Mr Kim for “seeking to break out of the dangerous cycle that created so much concern for last year”, when the United States and North Korea were threatening one another with annihilation. He said the UN would assist in any way - including by verifying any denuclearisation efforts - but stressed the UN will be limited to a supporting role.
He also said the focus should turn next to the humanitarian situation in North Korea, where the UN is seeking to furnish some $111 million in assistance. Mr Trump last week suggested Asian nations, rather than the US, should supply potential aid.
Do give a follow to Andrew Buncombe, our man on the ground in Singapore, who is tweeting at
@AndrewBuncombe:
North Korea's state news outlet KCNA is out with a new statement detailing Kim Jong-un's time in Singapore so far. It describes Mr Kim touring the city-state with other regime officials, praises Singapore as "clean and beautiful" and praises Singaporean officials who guided the North Korean delegation throughout.
We've already heard multiple times from Donald Trump on the morning (Singapore time) of the summit, with the president issuing a characteristic series of tweets. His secretary of state Mike Pompeo has also weighed in on Twitter, sharing a photo and saying the US team is "ready for today".
The White House passes along that Donald Trump spoke with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in - who ran in part on a platform of easing tensions with North Korea - and said the two leaders vowed to continue "close coordination" after the Singapore summit concludes.
Similarly, Mr Trump was said to have spoken with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to "consult closely" with Mr Abe after the meeting with Mr Kim.
Days before the meeting was planned to take place, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un complained to a visiting Russian official of American "hegenomism" - a warning shot that aligned with Russian critiques of what it calls America's imperialistic tendencies.
In a statement released on the morning of the big meeting, state Korean outlet KCNA underscored the regime's relationship with Russia by releasing a statement praising Russian president Vladimir Putin and suggesting Korean-Russian relations would strengthen.
Donald Trump's motorcade has left his hotel and he is on his way to the summit with Kim Jong-un.
Hello, this is Andrew Buncombe in Singapore, where it's a beautiful if tense morning. Tense with expectation and hope, rather than anything negative. But still tense
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