US Politics
Trump and Kim Jong-un could be primed for a surprise meeting during the president’s Asia trip, former advisor warns
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A former advisor to President Donald Trump hypothesized that there may be a surprise meeting between the president and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as Trump begins his Asian tour.
“Well, it’s…always expect the unexpected with Donald Trump, right? And so there’s not a meeting scheduled,” KT McFarland, a former deputy national security advisor for Trump, told Newsmax Saturday.
“But President Trump had had an outreach meeting with the North Korean president during his first term,” McFarland, a former Fox News host, added.
“And it was very successful because, as a result of that meeting, the North Koreans stopped testing nuclear weapons. They stopped testing missiles.”
McFarland continued: “So he was able to really buy the good faith of the North Koreans as a result of that meeting.”
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“Maybe President Trump is going to do that again,” she added.
The 79-year-old president arrived in Malaysia on Sunday to attend the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and oversaw a historic “peace deal” between Cambodia and Thailand, which he said would save millions of lives.
The five-day tour of Asia, which includes stops in Japan and South Korea, will culminate in a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to try to de-escalate the ongoing trade war.
The only meeting more consequential could be between Trump and the North Korean leader.
Before the trip, Trump seemed to indicate that he was ready to sit down with Kim, telling reporters on Air Force One, “I would if you want to put out the word. I’m open to it.”
“I had a great relationship with him,” Trump added.
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If the meeting were to take place, it would mark the first time the two world leaders have met since 2019, when they met at the Korean border village of Panmunjom. The two leaders met three times during Trump’s first term as president.
While there has been no official confirmation of a meeting between Trump and Kim, many have speculated that one would take place after South Korea’s unification minister, Chung Dong Young, told lawmakers this month that it was possible they could meet in the Demilitarized Zone.
The new liberal South Korean government has repeatedly urged Trump to take the lead in reopening dialogue with Kim.
