President Trump shook hands and smiled with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday evening in Vietnam, opening two days of talks about Kim’s nuclear weapons program.
Trump told reporters that their personal relationship was the “biggest progress” made during last year’s June summit in Singapore.
“I think it will be very successful. Great relationship,” Trump said as he arrived at the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi.
Trump patted Kim’s back and smiled during their initial handshake. Kim reciprocated, amicably tapping Trump’s arm before they sat down to address the press.
Trump told reporters that “no,” he hadn’t walked back demands that Kim disarm, and was non-committal about whether he will declare an official end to the Korean War of the 1950s. On that prospect, Trump said, “we’ll see.”
[Related: Trump: North Korea could be the next Vietnam if it were to denuclearize]
Kim said through an interpreter that “a lot of painstaking efforts” and “patience” was required since the last meeting. “I hope we will be successful this time,” he said.
Trump and Kim arrived before a display of American and North Korean flags, and will have preliminary talks and a “social dinner.” The total engagement will last about two hours before additional talks Thursday.
Trump told Kim while seated before reporters: “It’s great to be with you. We had a very successful first summit. I felt it was very successful, and some people would like to see it go a little quicker. I’m satisfied, you’re satisfied, we want to be happy with what we’re doing. I thought the first summit was a great success and hope this one hopefully will be equal or greater than the first. We made a lot of progress. I think the biggest progress is our relationship is really a good one.”
Trump, returning to a theme of the first summit, again pitched the possibility of economic improvements in North Korea.
“As I’ve said many times, and I say it to the press and I say it to anybody that wants to listen, I think your country has tremendous economic potential, unbelievable, unlimited. And I think that you will have a tremendous future with your country and great leader and I look forward to watching it happen and helping it to happen, and we will help it to happen,” he said.
Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of the East Coast of the U.S., so the dinner comes just before a Wednesday morning House Oversight Committee hearing in Washington where Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen will testify, airing dirty laundry against him. Trump did not answer a question about Cohen before dinner.
