Trump Eyeing a Reunion with Kim Jong-un?

The prospect of renewed negotiations would be more auspicious if the administration had first secured even one of the ambitious objectives it has set for itself abroad.

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President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un react at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island, Singapore, June 12, 2018.

Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

Fresh off its unqualified diplomatic successes with the Russians, the Iranians, and Hamas’s terrorists and their intermediaries, the Trump administration is reportedly gearing up to resolve another of the world’s seemingly intractable conundrums: North Korea and its nuclear arsenal.

According to Axios, the Trump White House is eager to restore the bonhomie the president and his counterpart in Pyongyang shared during Trump’s first term in office. “While nothing appears imminent, Trump has made clear he’d like to reconnect with Kim [Jong-un] — perhaps face-to-face — and his national security team is preparing for that scenario,” reporters Barak Ravid and Dave Lawler revealed. As one former Trump official confessed, it would only take “one flowery letter” from Kim to Trump to light a fire under a new diplomatic offensive.

Noah Rothman

About the Author

Noah Rothman

Noah Rothman is a senior writer at National Review. His third book, Blood and Progress: A Century of Left-Wing Violence, was published by Hachette in May 2026.

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