Donald Trump just dropped another heavy hint about reviving his signature brand of summit diplomacy. On his way to Ohio, the U.S. president told reporters he might sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during an upcoming trip to Asia.
"I may, yeah. That'll be exciting, won't it? But I get along with him," Trump told reporters outside the White House.
If it happens, it marks the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders in roughly seven years. Trump is scheduled to head to Asia next month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, set for November 18-19. He has already stated several times that he wants to meet Kim before the end of the year.
Back in his first term, Trump broke all traditional diplomatic molds. He held three high-profile meetings with the North Korean dictator. First came the historic Singapore summit in June 2018, making him the first sitting American president to meet a North Korean leader. That was followed by the Hanoi summit in February 2019 and a dramatic handshake at the Demilitarized Zone in Panmunjom later that year, where Trump famously stepped across the concrete demarcation line onto North Korean soil.
Those talks ultimately stalled out over disagreements regarding sanctions relief and the speed of denuclearization. Critics pointed out that photo ops didn't translate into permanent disarmament. Pyongyang kept building its nuclear arsenal.
Yet Trump has never abandoned his personal rapport with Kim. In recent weeks, the White House has signaled that backchannel communications have reopened. Trump told crowds at a campaign rally that maintaining strong personal ties with leaders of nuclear-armed states remains a strategic priority.
Critics worry about legitimizing a rogue regime without securing concrete concessions up front. State Department spokespersons have pushed back, arguing that direct engagement isn't a concession if it advances American security interests. Meanwhile, Pyongyang continues to showcase its military hardware, with Kim recently touring a defense museum featuring advanced intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Logistics for an actual meeting remain up in the air. Security arrangements, diplomatic protocols, and the exact itinerary for Trump's Asian tour are still being finalized. Whether a handshake in Shenzhen or another border meeting materializes next month remains to be seen. You can expect regional allies like South Korea and Japan to watch these developments very closely.
