Trump, Kim Jong Un arrive in Singapore for nuclear summit

SINGAPORE – A day after arguing with Western allies at the G-7 summit over trade, President Donald Trump landed in Asia on Sunday prepared to declare victory in talks with nucleararmed North Korea – regardless of what happens.

“We have a chance to achieve a truly wonderful result for North Korea and the World,” Trump tweeted en route to the historic trading post of Singapore, predicting that counterpart Kim Jong Un “will work very hard to do something that has rarely been done before ... Create peace and great prosperity for his land.”

Trump, who is offering to reduce economic sanctions on North Korea in exchange for denuclearization, also seemed to warn Kim that the summit is a “one-time opportunity” that should not be wasted.

As he disembarked from Air Force One, Trump told reporters that he feels “very good” about his prospects.

Kim had landed in Singapore hours earlier, staying silent as he has since Trump announced he had rescheduled the once-canceled meeting set for Tuesday morning local time.

Few people expect Kim to commit to what some Trump administration officials call “CVID”: Complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of nuclear weapons programs – certainly not at this meeting, and perhaps not ever.

In tamping down expectations, Trump himself has described this initial meeting as the start of a process. Some analysts said a Kim commitment to specific negotiations on denuclearization could well be enough for Tuesday’s summit to be a success.