As President Donald Trump floats the idea of meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the question in Washington and Seoul is whether there could be any real substance left in a summit that once dominated global headlines.
For Trump, the answer may lie less in new breakthroughs and more in reviving an old diplomatic gamble: the belief that personal diplomacy can succeed where conventional statecraft has failed.
‘I got along great with Kim Jong Un. I liked him, he liked me,’ Trump told reporters on Monday — a reminder of his trademark tactic of flattering America’s adversaries, a style that infuriates critics. ‘I’d love to meet him.’
Trump’s approach to North Korea has always been defined by spectacle — the 2018 Singapore summit, the DMZ handshake and the failed Hanoi talks in 2019. While direct engagement briefly lowered tensions and paused North Korea’s nuclear tests, Pyongyang has since dramatically expanded its nuclear arsenal, tested more advanced solid-fuel missiles and aligned more closely with China and Russia.
It has also claimed to test new underwater nuclear-capable drones and satellite systems — and has declared that talks focused on nuclear disarmament are a nonstarter.
Trump has floated sanctions relief in exchange for denuclearization.
‘Well, we have sanctions,’ Trump said of possible discussion points. ‘That’s pretty big to start off with. I would say that’s about as big as you get.’
During a speech last month, Kim said he has a ‘good memory of Trump’ but would meet him only ‘if the U.S. drops its hollow obsession with denuclearization.’
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said U.S. policy toward North Korea remains focused on urging Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.
‘Our North Korea policy remains the same. It’s the denuclearization of North Korea. It’s an objective that we have all been pursuing for decades,’ Rubio said.
Further compounding U.S. concerns is North Korea’s growing relationship with Russia. North Korea has provided Russia with troops for its war in Ukraine, and Western officials remain concerned about what Pyongyang is receiving in return from the nuclear-armed state. U.S. officials have warned that Russia may be sharing advanced satellite technology with North Korea.
The budding Moscow–Pyongyang relationship is a ‘national security challenge that needs to be addressed one way or the other,’ he added.
North Korea has so far not responded to Trump’s latest overture. On Friday, the president hinted at the difficulty of reaching Kim’s team.
‘I think they are sort of a nuclear power,’ he said. ‘They have a lot of nuclear weapons but not a lot of telephone service.’
Kim wants North Korea to be formally recognized as a nuclear power.
Absent a framework for a breakthrough in recent tensions, any summit risks a repeat of Hanoi: high drama, few deliverables.
Still, some see opportunity. Even a limited freeze on long-range missile tests or nuclear production could stabilize the peninsula — and Trump would remain the only Western leader who has Kim’s ear.