President Donald Trump isn’t exactly going out of his way to warm up for his upcoming meeting with Kim Jong Un. On Thursday, while speaking of how he's preparing for the North Korea summit, Trump suggested he was "very well prepared" and that he doesn't need to do too much to get ready for it.
"I think I'm very well prepared, I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude, it's about willingness to get things done. But I think I've been preparing for this summit for a long time — as has the other side," he said. "This isn't a question of preparation. It's a question of whether or not people want it to happen, and we'll know that very quickly."
Trump's remarks came during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the Oval Office. While speaking to the press, Trump said, "I hope the upcoming meeting in Singapore represents the beginning of a bright new future for North Korea and indeed a bright new future for the world." Abe was present to remind the American president of Japanese geological interest in the U.S. and North Korea meeting.
The Japanese leader said that he hoped for "great success" to come out of the summit and added, "I would like to pay my deep respect to the outstanding leadership of President Trump, as he made this decision that no past presidents were able to accomplish."
The summit between the United States and North Korea will take place in Singapore on June 12. Both leaders will meet to discuss bilateral relations between the countries while Trump has said that the sanctions on North Korea will continue to remain in effect.
Apart from the summit being primarily concerned with oft-strained relations between the United States and North Korea, the former country may have some answering to do for its friendly back-and-forth with South Korea. Some North Korea experts say that the recent joint military drill between South Korea and the United States did sit well with Kim's country, particularly given North Korean state media reports.
According to the state news agency, Korean Central News Agency, "The United States will also have to undertake careful deliberations about the fate of the planned North Korea-US summit in light of this provocative military ruckus jointly conducted with the South Korean authorities."
In response to the Korean Central News Agency remarks, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "We are aware of the South Korean media report. The United States will look at what North Korea has said independently, and continue to coordinate closely with our allies."
In spite of state media reports on North Korea's rumored disapproval, Trump seems optimistic about the summit's outcome. In fact, if things go well, Americans might get to see Kim visit the United States, at least according to Trump who said he would invite the leader.
But there's no definitive say on how the summit will go. It's that kind of unpredictability that Trump hinted at during his press meeting. But he seemed hopeful. The president said, "I believe we'll have a terrific success or a modified success" and added a cautionary message: "Things can happen between now and then.”
While criticizing former administrations without naming names, Trump said, "This should have been solved by many others. But it wasn't so I'll solve it and we'll get it done." You can watch the summit by turning to CNN on June 12 at 9 p.m. ET. History will be made at Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island as it will be the very first time that a sitting American president meets a North Korean head of state.
