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President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are making history — again.
The two leaders just shook hands as they began their second summit, this time in Vietnam. Trump has a tough task ahead: convincing Kim to rid his nation of a nuclear program it took decades to build. It’s a goal that US intelligence agencies think the president is unlikely to achieve.
Answering a question from reporters during the handshake, Trump said he believes his meeting with the North Korean leader will be “very successful.” He has a long way to go to ensure that.
The US and North Korean delegations are participating in two days of high-stakes negotiations at Hanoi’s Metropole Hotel. On Wednesday, the two leaders have a one-on-one meeting scheduled for roughly 20 minutes.
In a short conversation with press prior to the meeting, Trump said it’s an “honor” to be with Kim again and that his relationship with the premier “is a good one.” Kim, meanwhile, noted that the countries have come a long way from threatening to go to war.
When the private, one-on-one session ends, they will attend a “social dinner” that will include both leaders as well as each man’s two top advisers. It’s unclear as of now what the Thursday schedule will look like, as the White House has yet to release it, but it’s sure to involve a lot of diplomatic meetings between the two sides.
And so we’re off. The question now is if anything will come out of it.
Kim Jong Un and @POTUS meet again. #TrumpKimSummit pic.twitter.com/YEEkGupZqN
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) February 27, 2019