HISTORY IN A HANDSHAKE
Trump and Kim Jong Un meet in landmark summit, vow at document signing to ‘ leave the past behind’
SINGAPORE — President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a document at their Tuesday summit in Singapore that Trump called “pretty comprehensive.”
Trump said the details would be revealed later but said the North Korea denuclearization process will be starting “very quickly.”
Kim declared the “world will see a major change” and said he and Trump “decided to leave the past behind.”
In remarks after the signing, Trump said he “absolutely” would invite Kim to the White House, “meet many times” in the future and called Kim a “very talented man” who loves his country very much.
Trump proclaimed earlier Tuesday that the momentous summit had gone “better than anybody could have expected.”
Meeting with staged ceremony on a Singapore island, Trump and Kim concluded a summit that seemed just unthinkable months ago, clasping hands before a row of alternating U. S. and North Korean flags, holding a one- on- one meeting, additional talks with advisers and a working lunch.
At ameeting that could chart the course for historic peace or raise the specter of a growing nuclear threat, both leaders expressed optimism. Kim called the sit- down a “good prelude for peace” and Trump pledged that “working together we will get it taken care of.”
For all the upbeat talk, it was an open question what, if any, concrete results the sit- down would produce. In advance of their private session, Trump predicted “tremendous success” while Kim said through an interpreter that “we have come here after overcoming” obstacles.
Aware that the eyes of the world were on the moment, Kim said many of those watching would think it was a scene from a “science fiction movie.”
In the run- up to the meeting, Trump had predicted the twomen might strike a nuclear deal or forge a formal end to the Korean War in the course of a single meeting or over several days. But in the hours before the summit, the White House unexpectedly announced Trump would depart Singapore earlier than expected— Tuesday evening— raising ques--
tions about whether his aspirations for an ambitious outcome had been scaled back.
Giving voice to the anticipation felt around the world, South Korean President Moon Jae- in said Tuesday he “hardly slept” before the summit. Moon and other officials watched the live broadcast of the summit before a South Korean Cabinet meeting in his presidential office
The meeting was the first between a sitting U. S. president and a North Korean leader.
After meeting privately and with aides, Trump and Kim moved into the luncheon at a long flower- bedecked table. As they entered, Trump injected some levity to the day’s extraordinary events, saying: “Getting a good picture everybody? So we look nice and handsome and thin? Perfect.”
Then they dined on beef short rib confit along with sweet and sour crispy pork.
And as they emerged from the meal for a brief stroll together, Trump appeared to delight in showing his North Korean counterpart the interior of “The Beast,” the famed U. S. presidential limousine known for its high- tech fortifications.
Critics of the summit leapt at the leaders’ handshake and the moonlight stroll Kim took Monday night along the glittering Singapore waterfront, saying it was further evidence that Trump was helping legitimize Kim on the world stage as an equal of the U. S. president.
Trump responded to such commentary on Twitter, saying: “The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U. S., say the haters & losers.” But he added “our hostages” are back home and testing, research and launches have stopped.
Kudlow has ‘ very mild’ heart attack
Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, suffered a “very mild” heart attack and was being treated at a military hospital, the White House said Monday. Kudlow was in good condition at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement. She said doctors expect him to make a “full and speedy recovery.”