Trump And Kim Jong Un Shake Hands And Join For Second Meeting In Hanoi
President [/news/donald_trump/index.html Donald Trump] and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un shook hands and exchanged smiles as they joined for a dinner meeting at a historic Hanoi hotel - and Trump proclaimed their relationship a 'good one.'
'Our relationship is a very special relationship,' Trump said, in one of several comments proclaiming a personal bond.
The two men met in the Vietnamese capital in front of a bank of six flags from each nation, for the first meeting for the pair since their historic summit in Singapore in June.
'It's an honor to be with Chairman Kim.
It's an honor to be together,' said Trump, who repeatedly praised his counterpart.
The admiration may be mutual. In one remark, Kim praised Trump's 'courageous decision' to open dialogue, according to how his translator recounted it.
In introductory remarks, Trump did much of the talking - and one again dangled the promise of prosperity for North Korea, and addressed critics who noted their initial joint statement was vague and hard to measure.
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President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shake hands at the top of their meeting in Hanoi
'It's great to be with you.
We had a very successful first summit,' Trump said. 'I felt it was very successful. Some people would like to see it go quicker. I'm satisfied, you're satisfied. We want to be happy with what we're doing.'
'I thought the first summit was a great success, I think this one hopefully will be equal or greater than the first,' the president added.
As he has repeatedly, Trump pointed to personal chemistry with the reclusive leader of the family-led one-party dictatorship - although his secretary of state says North Korea is still a nuclear threat, having tested a hydrogen bomb and months ago conducted a skein of missile tests.
'We made a lot of progress and I think the biggest progress was our relationship is really a good one,' Trump said.
The two leaders smiled as they were seated before dinner
People walk past a TV broadcasting a news report on a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S.
President Donald Trump, in Seoul, South Korea, February 27, 2019
Trump repeatedly hailed the personal relationship between the two men
US President Donald Trump (L) gestures as he speaks with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un during a meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi on February 27, 2019
Trump's sit-down came hours after Michael Cohen's testimony was released
Trump complemented a New York Times photographer in one of many asides to Kim
In a spat with the White House, two reporters who had earlier asked Trump questions were not permitted to witness the start of dinner
Dangling economic enticements that he hopes will persuade Kim to give up nuclear weapons his nation has been developing for years, Trump said: 'I think that your country has tremendous economic potential.
Unbelievable. Unlimited,' Trump said, seated across from Kim.
Both men smiled before cameras as they exchanged a handshake.
A reporter asked Trump about former lawyer Michael Cohen's bombshell testimony in Congress that calls Trump a 'conman.' Trump shook his head and didn't respond.
That may not have gone over well with the White House staff.
At a subsequent photo-op, two wire service reporters were excluded, including the one who had asked about Cohen, whose bombshell testimony touched on Stormy Daniels, a Trump Moscow tower project, and Wikileaks.
According to a statement issued by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders: 'Due to the sensitive nature of the meetings we have limited the pool for the dinner to a smaller group, but ensured that representation of photographers, tv, radio and print Poolers are all in the room.
We are continuing to negotiate aspects of this historic summit and will always work to make sure the U.S. media has as much access as possible.'
For that event, kynghidongduong.vn the two men were seated at a round table with a floral centerpiece. Their meal had not yet been served.
Once again, Trump talked up their bond.
'Our relationship is a very special relationship,' the president said.
After Kim spoke in Korean, a translator said: 'They have exchanged very interesting dialogue with each other.'
That prompted a joke from Trump.
'If you could have heard that dialogue. What you would pay for that dialogue ... It was good.'
Then Trump stepped in again. 'We're going to have a very busy day tomorrow and we'll probably have a pretty quick dinner.'
'And a lot of things are going to be solved I hope.
It'll lead to really a wonderful situation hạ long term. And our relationship is a very special relationship,' the president said.
Earlier Trump said: 'It's great to be with you. We had a very successful first summit. I felt it was very successful.
Some people would like to see it go quicker. I'm satisfied, you're satisfied. We want to be happy with what we're doing.'
Complimenting their host country, Trump said: 'It's an honor to be with Chairman Kim. It's an honor to be together in really a country, Vietnam, where they've really rolled red carpet.
And they're very proud to have us.'
Minutes earlier, as they first met, the two men engaged in brief remarks, then looked ahead toward press photographers with serious expressions on their faces. Eventually they smiled.
Trump and Kim were to dine along with top aides. Trump said the meal would be a 'pretty quick dinner'
'Thank you very much,' Trump told reporters.
That was to be succeeded by brief remarks by the two men.
A specially created logo featured two shaking hands.
The two men joined at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi in the Vietnamese capital.
Before the two men gathered, Trump used Twitter to take on 'false reporting' about his plans.
'All false reporting (guessing) on my intentions with respect to North Korea.
Kim Jong Un and I will try very hard to work something out on Denuclearization & then making North Korea an Economic Powerhouse. I believe that China, Russia, Japan & South Korea will be very helpful!' the president wrote.
Trump began his Hanoi summit with [/news/kim_jong_un/index.html Kim Jong Un] by predicting progress at his upcoming meal with his counterpart and calling the North Korean dictator 'my friend.'
'Hopefully great things will happen later on,' Trump said in brief remarks Wednesday as he met with the president of Vietnam and a delegation.
Trump also lavished praise upon Vietnam for its 'thriving' economy, while touting economic growth in the U.S.
as well - holding out the local economy as a model for North Korea to pursue.
He announced a deal to have Vietnamese airlines purchase U.S.-made planes - even as it continues to ship billions worth of sneakers and shrimp to U.S. ports.
Other agreements would bring the total value of the agreements to $21 billion, according to an administration offical.
Trump also called the relationship between the U.S. and Vietnam an 'example' of what can become of North Korea if it gives up its nuclear weapons.
Trump also posed in front of a statue of the nation's revolutionary founder Kim Jong Un.
'You really are an example as to what can happen with good thinking,' Trump said as he sat down with President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong.
President Donald Trump shakes hands with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam.
He touted Vietnam as an economic model that North Korea could pursue
Trump, who landed Tuesday, has already met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong for the signing of several commercial trade deals between their two airline industries
The motorcade carrying U.S.
President Donald Trump drive past Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam on Wednesday
President Donald Trump meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc at the Office of Government Hall in Hanoi on Wednesday
Trump talked up the economic model - where the communist government has maintained one-party political control but opened up economically and established vigorous trade relations with the U.S.
'Unemployment and all of the numbers that you would look at are at historically positive numbers.
So I just see what you've done and I'm very proud of what you've done,' Trump said.
He also touted agreements negotiated in advance of the summit for Vietnam to purchase U.S.-made products, and touted a deal with airplane manufacturer Boeing. He also claimed it would help reduce the U.S.
$37 billion trade deficit with Vietnam.
'And I know today, whether it's Boeing and a couple of others we're going to be signing some very big trade deals where you're buying a lot of different products from the United States which we greatly appreciate.
We're reducing the deficit very substantially, as are many countries,' Trump said.
According to a senior administration official, deals totaling $21 billion included VietJet buying 100 Boeing 737-Max jets and 215 GE/CFM joint venture engines.
Bamboo airways will buy 10 Boeing 787 planes, and Vietnam airlines will buy $100 million in services and technology from Sabre Corporation.
Soon after Trump inked the deals, longtime lawyer Michael Cohen's prepared testimony was released.
It contained potentially damaging claims - including that Cohen overheard a campaign phone conversation where Roger Stone told candidate Trump that Julian Assange told him in advance about dumping anti- Hillary Clinton emails.
Cohen also says Trump repeatedly inquired about the status of a Moscow tower project in 2016, and even directed him to threaten schools so they would not release his academic information. Cohen also says Trump told him to fend off reporters and avoid answering questions about the medical deferment that helped keep him from serving in Vietnam.
Trump and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong stand before a signing ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi
U.S.
aircraft manufacturer Boeing signed agreements with VietJet for 100 737 MAX planes and with Bamboo Airways for 10 787 Dreamliners as the two leaders looked on Wednesday
Trump called the relationship between the U.S.
and Vietnam an 'example' of what can become of North Korea if it gives up its nuclear weapons
Trump thanked Vietnam for hosting the summit and for agreeing to the new trade deals with American companies
'We're going to be signing some very big trade deals where you're buying a lot of different products from the United States which we greatly appreciate,' Trump told Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong
U.S.
President Donald Trump met with his Vietnamese counterpart President Nguyen Phu Trong hours before he is set to sit down with North Korea's Kim Jong Un
Trump and President Nguyen Phu Trong have already presided over a signing ceremony of several commercial trade deals between their two airline industries.
U.S.
aircraft manufacturer Boeing signed agreements with VietJet for 100 737 MAX planes and with Bamboo Airways for 10 787 Dreamliners as the two leaders looked on Wednesday. And U.S.-based aviation technology company Sabre also inked a deal with Vietnam Airlines.
Later, Trump smiled and held a Vietnamese flag as he met with the country's prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and inked a series of agreements.
Bad timing: 'Donald Trump is a man who ran for office to make his brand great, not to make our country great,' Michael Cohen will testify, in language that was released during Trump's first day in Hanoi
Trump previously complained about the trade imbalance during his visit here in 2016, when it was $32 billion. We have to get rid of the trading imbalance, we can't have a trade imbalance,' the president said then as he was promoting his 'America First' push on trade.
Kim visited a factory in Hanoi on Tuesday, getting a first hand look at some of the economic progress being made, in a nation that has regularly surpassed 6 per cent growth and achieved per-capita income several fold greater than in [/news/north_korea/index.html North Korea].
Trump review the guard of honor during a meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong ahead of the US-North Korea summit in Hanoi
President Donald Trump waves a Vietnam flag as he meets with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, waving an American flag
A statement from Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung called for residents to 'maintain and sustain Hanoians' code of behavior' as Trump pays a visit to the city
President Donald Trump began his Hanoi summit with Kim Jong Un with another optimistic tweet, calling the North Korean dictator 'my friend'
DOWN TO BUSINESS: Trump touted a deal for Vietnam to purchase planes.
The U.S. trade deficit with the nation has grown by $5 billion since Trump visited two years ago
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