Timeline of the summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore in descending order:
9:15 p.m.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) says his country could help North Korean and U.S. efforts to find the remains of U.S. military personnel missing in action and presumed dead from the 1950-53 Korean War.
Moon’s office says he made the proposal to President Donald Trump as they spoke over the phone after Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
Moon’s office says he told Trump the summit was a success that laid down a “big framework” for peace in the Korean Peninsula and the world.
Moon’s office says Trump told Moon he was impressed by Kim’s determination reflected by a decision to destroy a missile test site.
9 p.m.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry is welcoming the Singapore summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Russia says the “normalization of American-North Korean relations … is an integral part” of solving “the problems of the Korean Peninsula, including the nuclear one.”
Russia is also welcoming Trump’s statement on refraining from military exercises during negotiations. The foreign ministry says it will continue efforts to “maintain a political and diplomatic process around the Korean Peninsula.”
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the upper house of the Russian parliament, says on Facebook that there is “no certainty yet” that both sides will capitalize on the talks.
He says Trump’s words that denuclearization will start very soon is “more of a wish than a fact.”
8:35 p.m.
Seoul says President Donald Trump has talked by phone with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) following his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Moon’s office on Tuesday did not immediately reveal the details of the conversation between the two leaders.
Moon said earlier that the summit between Trump and Kim was a “great victory achieved by both the United States and the two Koreas” and a “huge step forward for people across the world who long for peace.”
8:25 p.m.
The European Union is welcoming the U.S.-North Korea summit as a sign that diplomacy is the only way to achieve peace. The EU says it shows there is hope of achieving a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini (feh-deh-REE’-kah moh-gehr-EE’-nee) says in a statement Tuesday that “this summit was a crucial and necessary step to build upon the positive developments achieved in inter-Korean relations.”
Mogherini is thanking in particular South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) for his leadership.
She says the ultimate goal remains “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” and that the summit statement “gives a clear signal that this goal can be achieved.”
8:15 p.m.
Scandinavian and Estonian leaders are welcoming the deal reached by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong but are urging caution.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen called it “historic” but says Pyongyang has failed to live up to previous disarmament deals.
In Sweden, foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, who hosted talks in March with North Korea’s foreign minister, told Swedish radio Tuesday that it was a “victory for diplomacy.”
In Estonia, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser underlined “the loosening of sanctions can only follow once the nuclear disarmament process has truly become irreversible.”
He adds, “The goal is still the total nuclear disarmament of the peninsula.”
8:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he sometimes “felt foolish” lobbing insults at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But he says without his harsh rhetoric, their summit may never have happened.
Trump is reflecting on his evolving rhetoric in an interview with Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity in Singapore.
Trump, who had threatened “fire and fury” and called Kim “Little Rocket Man,” says: “I think without the rhetoric we wouldn’t have been here.”
He says that past administrations had what he called “a policy of silence” and didn’t respond when rivals “said something very bad and very threatening and horrible.”
Trump says, “That’s not the answer.”
He says of his rhetoric: “I hated to do it. Sometimes I felt foolish doing it. But we had no choice.”
7:55 p.m.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry is sidestepping an immediate reaction to President Donald Trump’s claim that Washington and Seoul should stop their regular military drills.
The ministry says it would first need to figure out the “exact meaning and intent” of such comments, echoing a stance taken by the presidential office.
The ministry had said in recent weeks that there were no immediate plans between Washington and Seoul to modify the annual drills despite Pyongyang’s anger toward them.
7:50 p.m.
Sen. Lindsay Graham says both the United States and North Korea left the Singapore summit stronger. But the South Carolina Republican says he not only wants to see details of the agreement the two leaders signed, he wants Congress to vote on the agreement.
Graham says in an interview with NBC’s “Today” that “anything you negotiate with North Korea will have to come to Congress for our approval. Details matter.” But he says he’s “hopeful.”
Graham says while canceling a war game won’t matter “over the arc of time,” he says he “violently” disagrees with removing troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Graham says, “we have a long ways to go, they’ve done this twice and we can’t let them do it again.”
6:35 p.m.
President Donald Trump is telling reporters that North Korea’s denuclearization will have to be total and verifiable as he prepares to head home from his historic summit with Kim Jong Un.
Trump spoke with reporters on Tuesday shortly before Air Force One took off from Singapore after a day of meetings with Kim.
Trump says the U.S. would have to verify North Korea’s denuclearization. He says: “We’re going to have to check it. We will check it. Total and complete.”
Trump is heading home a day earlier than expected. He said he didn’t want to stay an extra night when everything he’d set out to do had been accomplished.
He says, “There was nothing more we could have done.”
Trump will be stopping in Guam and Hawaii as he makes his way back to Washington.
6:25 p.m.
The head of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog is welcoming President Donald Trump’s joint statement with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, says his agency “stands ready to undertake any verification activities in (North Korea) that it may be requested to conduct by the countries concerned.”
He noted that the Trump-Kim statement signed Tuesday in Singapore includes a North Korean commitment “towards complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Amano says the IAEA “will closely follow the negotiations to be held between the two countries to implement the outcomes” of Trump’s summit with Kim.
5:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump has stunned the Korean Peninsula by announcing the stoppage of U.S.-South Korean annual war games that have long been defended as defensive and vital by the allies.
Trump spoke to reporters after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Tuesday and essentially took the North Korean line on the military exercises, calling them “provocative.”
The 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea.
Trump called the war games “tremendously expensive,” suggested South Korea didn’t contribute enough and said they would be “inappropriate” as the U.S. and North Korea negotiate a new relationship.
A statement from South Korean President Moon Jae-in says the Trump-Kim summit opens a new era of peace and cooperation. The statement did not address Trump’s comments about the drills.
Seoul’s presidential office told the Associated Press that it was trying to discern the exact meaning and intent of Trump’s comments.
5:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he really believes North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is going to make good on his promise to denuclearize.
Trump said Tuesday near the end of a lengthy press conference in Singapore that he may be wrong about Kim, but he’ll never admit it.
Trump jokes that he “may stand before you in six months and say, ’Hey, I was wrong.’” But he says, “I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that.”
Trump appeared to be in a good spirits as he answered questions for almost an hour following a day of meetings with Kim and other North Korean officials.
He ended by congratulating reporters and saying he’s eager to “take it a little bit easy” now that the highly anticipated summit is over.
5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he thinks “we’ll probably need another summit”— or at least a second meeting — with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as they discuss Kim’s commitment to denuclearization.
But Trump told reporters in Singapore on Tuesday that he and Kim were able to cover far more ground than he’d expected.
He says, “We’re much further along than I would have thought.”
Trump answered reporters’ questions at a free-wheeling press conference before returning to the U.S.
He appeared to be enjoying himself as he went back and forth with the press.
5:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says North Korea has a “substantial arsenal” of nuclear weapons and the summit should have happened five years ago.
At a news conference Tuesday after his meeting with Kim Jong Un, Trump discussed efforts to press him to get rid of its nuclear weapons.
The president says that the U.S. doesn’t have a lot of intelligence on the country but that “we have enough intelligence to know that what they have is very substantial.”
The president says Kim understands what the U.S. has been pushing for in the talks. Trump says, “I think he’s going to do these things.”
5:15 p.m.
The spokesman for the Iranian government is warning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that President Donald Trump could nullify any nuclear deal with North Korea.
The semi-official Fars news agency quotes Mohammad Bagher Nobakht as saying Tuesday: “We are facing a man who revokes his signature while abroad.”
Nobakht’s remarks are the first by an Iranian official after Trump and Kim concluded their nuclear summit.
While flying for talks with Kim on Sunday, Trump rejected an agreement signed by the leaders of the G-7 countries at their summit in Canada.
The U.S. also pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in May.
5:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump says discussions over the next steps to take with North Korea will be happening soon.
Trump said Tuesday after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore that “We’re getting together next week to go into the details.”
It’s unclear where those discussions will take place or which North Korean officials will be involved.
But he says the talks will include Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton.
A joint agreement signed by the two leaders earlier Tuesday says the U.S. and North Korea have committed to hold follow-up negotiations, led by Pompeo and “a relevant high-level DPRK official” at the “earliest possible date.”
5:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump says that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “learned” from the mistake of criticizing him and that it’s going to cost Canada “a lot of money.”
At a news conference in Singapore on Tuesday, Trump recounted his recent tough exchanges with Trudeau. He says the Canadian leader must not have realized that Trump had televisions on Air Force One, allowing him to monitor Trudeau’s news conference at the end of the G-7 summit.
The president also recounted his discussions during the G-7 summit and his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the final document. Trump says the photo taken of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and others standing before him was taken as they were waiting for changes he’d requested.
Trump says it “didn’t look friendly” but it was “very friendly.”
5:05 p.m.
China has suggested that the UN Security Council could consider suspending or lifting sanctions against North Korea if Pyongyang is in compliance with UN resolutions and making progress in diplomatic negotiations.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Tuesday that China “welcomes and supports” talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump to reach consensus on denuclearization and establishing a peace mechanism.
Geng told reporters in Beijing that the Security Council’s sanctions against the North could be suspended or lifted in accordance with the North’s actions.
Geng says, “Sanctions are not an end,” Geng said. He says: “We believe the Security Council should make efforts to support the diplomat efforts at the present time.”
5 p.m.
President Donald Trump is pushing back on criticism that the U.S. has gotten little in return for his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump told reporters at a news conference in Singapore Tuesday after his meeting that he “gave up nothing.”
He says “it’s not a big deal” for world leaders to meet with the president of the United States.
Trump announced that he will stop conducting U.S. military “war games” with ally South Korea while negotiations between the two countries continue.
Trump cast the decision as a cost-saving measure, but North Korea has long objected to the drills as a security threat.
Trump also says Kim has committed to denuclearizing his country, but details of how that will happen and be verified have yet to be hashed out.
4:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is destroying a major missile engine testing site.
Trump says Kim informed him of this development during the historic nuclear summit they held Tuesday in Singapore.
Trump did not give a location for the testing site.
He says the details about the site being destroyed were not included in the joint declaration the leaders signed after nearly five hours of talks because they agreed to it after the document was signed.
Trump says destruction of the site is a “big thing.”
4:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump is defending his repeated praise of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un during their meetings in spite of Kim’s distressing record on human rights.
Trump told reporters at a press conference in Singapore on Tuesday that Kim “is very talented.” He pointed to Kim’s rise to power at a relatively young age.
Trump has appeared largely unconcerned about the implications of feting an authoritarian leader suspected of ordering the public assassination of his half-brother with a nerve agent, executing his uncle by firing squad and killing U.S. college student Otto Warmbier.
But Trump says without Warmbier’s death, his meeting with Kim may not have happened. He says, “Otto did not die in vain.”
Trump says human rights did come up during the talks, albeit briefly.
Trump says he believes Kim wants to do the right thing.
4:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he will be ending joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea.
Trump made the announcement Tuesday at a news conference in Singapore after his historic meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
North Korea has long objected to the annual exercises, viewing them as practice for future military action against the North by the United States.
Trump cast his decision as a financial consideration, saying the U.S. will save a lot of money by canceling the drills.
4:25 p.m.
President Donald Trump is thanking North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “for taking the first bold step toward a bright new future for his people” after the leaders’ historic Singapore summit.
Trump said at a news conference Tuesday after meeting face to face with Kim that “real change is indeed possible.”
He also says that he’s prepared “to start a new history” and “write a new chapter” between the two nations.
He says, “The past does not have to define the future.”
Trump held a news conference in Singapore before returning home.
4:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he gave North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a video that laid out the opportunities of their historic meeting.
Reporters were shown the video before the start of Trump’s news conference Tuesday. The video resembled a preview of a film. It shows images of warplanes and artillery and says there can “only be two results,” one of moving back or moving forward.
The video shows the two leaders and raises the questions: “What if history can be changed? Will the world embrace this change?”
The president says he gave the video “to Chairman Kim and his people.”
4:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is finally revealing that he spoke directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of their Singapore summit.
Trump said in an interview Tuesday with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he’d spoken with Kim and others before the summit.
?Trump had dodged the question for weeks, refusing to answer reporters who asked about their contact.
During a visit to Mar-a-Lago in April, Trump told a reporter that he had spoken with Kim personally, but an aide quickly walked back the statement, saying it was other officials who’d spoken with Kim.
It was later revealed that Trump’s secretary of state had traveled to Pyongyang to meet with Kim.
Trump is describing his day with Kim as “very intense.” He says he believes Kim wants to get denuclearization “done” and says he trusts Kim.
3:50 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts after President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Pompeo tweeted shortly after the summit ended Tuesday that he’d telephoned South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono. The State Department released a photograph of Pompeo on the phone.
Pompeo says on Twitter he provided the diplomats with “a brief readout of today’s meeting” between Trump and Kim. The two leaders concluded their summit by signing a document in which Trump pledged “security guarantees” to the North and Kim reiterated his commitment to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
The State Department is declining to release any additional information about the calls.
3:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un have concluded an extraordinary nuclear summit by signing a document in which Trump pledged “security guarantees” to the North and Kim reiterated his commitment to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
Light on specifics, the document largely amounted to an agreement to continue discussions as it reiterated previous public statements and past commitments. It did not include an agreement to take steps toward ending the technical state of warfare between the U.S. and North Korea.
The pair promised in the document to “build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula and to repatriate remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action during the Korean War.
2:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have signed a joint document in which they commit to working “toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”
The document signed by the leaders at their historic summit Tuesday also says they will join efforts “to build a lasting and stable peace regime” on the Korean Peninsula.
The White House has yet to release the document’s text. But it was photographed by the news media during a signing ceremony.
The document lays out four broad commitments. It says the sides “commit to establish new U.S.-DPRK relations in accordance with the desire of the peoples of the two countries for peace and prosperity.”
And it says they will commit to recovering the remains of prisoners of war and those missing in action.
2:15 p.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has left the small Singapore island that was the site of his meeting with President Donald Trump.
Kim’s convoy was left Sentosa Island on Tuesday afternoon after he signed a document with the American president, who stayed behind at the hotel where the two leaders met.
Both leaders characterized the document they signed as historic though neither provided details. Trump says the details would come later.
The summit was the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
2:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump is praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “very worthy, very smart negotiator” on behalf of his people as the two leaders bid each other farewell after their historic summit.
Trump was asked by reporters in Singapore during his final appearance with Kim on Tuesday what surprised him most during their meetings.
Trump says Kim has a “great personality” and is “very smart. Good combination.”
Trump also says he learned Kim is “a very talented man” and “loves his country very much.”
He’s wrapping up the summit by saying the two had “a terrific day” and “learned a lot about each other and about our countries.”
He says he expects they’ll meet again many times.
1:55 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he “absolutely” would invite North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to the White House.
After Kim and Trump signed what Trump called a “pretty comprehensive” document, Trump was asked about a possible invitation. Trump said “absolutely, I would” invite Kim.
Before Tuesday’s summit in Singapore, Trump had dangled the prospect of a White House visit for Kim.
Both leaders characterized the document they signed as historic though neither provided details. Trump said the details would come later.
Trump and Kim commented as they closed a historic first meeting between a sitting U.S. president and a leader of North Korea.
1:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have signed what Trump says is a “very important” and “pretty comprehensive” document.
But Trump is refusing to tell reporters what the declaration says. The document is set to be handed out to reporters later.
Trump said Tuesday as the leaders wrapped up their historic summit in Singapore that he and Kim “have developed a very special bond” during their day together.
And he says, “Both sides are going to be impressed with the result.”
Kim told reporters that “the world will see a major change,” though it’s unclear how.
The summit marked the first between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
1 p.m.
President Donald Trump has given North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a rare peek inside the U.S. presidential limousine.
As the two leaders strolled around the grounds of the Singapore resort where they’re having their summit Tuesday, they walked up to the U.S. limousine nicknamed The Beast.
Trump can be seen talking and gesturing before a Secret Service agent opens the door and the leaders look in.
It wasn’t immediately clear how Kim felt about the presidential tour, but he seemed to be smiling.
Trump says he and Kim will be signing a document shortly, but he declined to specify what that document would say.
12:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump says he and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will be signing a document shortly.
Trump declined to specify what exactly the leaders would be signing.
Trump said after emerging from hours of talks with Kim on Tuesday in Singapore that “we’re going right now for a signing.”
Asked what he’d be signing, Trump said: “We’re going to be announcing that in a couple of minutes.”
Trump also said that the meeting was “going great” and that they had made “a lot of progress.” He says he thinks it was “better than anybody could imagine.”
12:45 p.m.
President Donald Trump says his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un went “better than anybody could imagine.”
The leaders emerged from a working lunch and strolled together down a paved walkway Tuesday before stopping and posing before the waiting news media.
Trump said the meeting is “going great. We had a really fantastic meeting.”
He added that there has been “a lot of progress. Really very positive. I think better than anybody could imagine.”
The working lunch was the final official event scheduled for the leaders before they go their separate ways.
Trump is scheduled to address the press corps and then begin the journey back to Washington.
12:25 p.m.
President Donald Trump joked about his appearance as he prepared to sit down to lunch with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump said to photographers at Tuesday’s summit in Singapore: “Getting a good picture, everybody? So we look nice and handsome and thin? Perfect.”
A video feed provided by the summit host showed Trump, Kim and their aides taking their places at a long table. Salad courses were prepositioned on the table along with flower bouquets.
Trump took his spot in the middle of the table, and Kim opposite him. Trump was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a few other aides.
The lunch menu includes beef short ribs, sweet and sour crispy pork, and braised codfish.
12:15 p.m.
The White House has restricted journalists’ access to parts of President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un despite long-standing arrangements intended to ensure the public is kept fully abreast of key presidential moments.
Under standard rules agreed to by the White House and the press corps, a full pool of reporters travels with the president at all times and is allowed at any meetings where press access in granted. The group includes media representatives who then pool the information they gather with other news outlets that couldn’t attend.
During the photo-op at the start of Trump’s one-on-one meeting with Kim, text reporters for newswires The Associated Press, Reuters and Bloomberg were kept out of the pool, as were the designated representatives for radio and the foreign press corps.
12:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have started a working lunch meeting in Singapore.
A video feed provided by the host of the summit showed Trump, Kim and their aides walking into a room and taking their places at a long table. Salad courses were prepositioned on the table along with flower bouquets.
Trump took his spot in the middle of the table, and Kim opposite him. Trump was joined by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and a few other aides.
Independent journalists covering Trump’s summit were not allowed in to witness the start of the lunch in Singapore.
11:45 a.m.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he “hardly slept” in anticipation of the United States-North Korea summit in Singapore.
Moon and other officials watched the live broadcast of the summit before a South Korean Cabinet meeting in his presidential office Tuesday.
Moon smiled and nodded as he watched President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un meet.
Moon has met Kim twice in recent months and helped arrange the U.S.-North Korean summit.
Moon said he “ardently aspires” for the success of the summit and hopes it brings complete denuclearization and peace to the Korean Peninsula.
Fighting in the Korean War ended with an armistice in July 1953. That armistice has yet to be replaced with a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula in a technical state of war.
11:35 a.m.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman says all the pressure is on President Donald Trump in the historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Rodman told The Associated Press on Tuesday that it’s up to Trump to prove he can be trusted by Kim and the North Korean people. The basketball Hall of Famer says it will take multiple visits for the countries to have any hope of a peaceful relationship.
Rodman joked that he should be pushing for the Nobel Peace Prize, or “at least give me a piece of it.” He struck up an unlikely friendship with Kim over their shared love of basketball and has visited North Korea several times but had no official role in the summit.
Rodman says he expects to meet with Trump after the summit.
11:25 a.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are set to chat over a lunch of beef short ribs, sweet and sour crispy pork, and braised codfish.
Details released by the White House show that lunch will begin Tuesday with a prawn cocktail and avocado salad, and green mango kerabu with honey lime dressing and octopus.
Side dishes included potato dauphinois, steamed broccolini, fried rice and Asian vegetables.
Dessert included dark chocolate tartlet and Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream.
Among those joining the leaders on the U.S. side were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House chief of staff John Kelly and national security adviser John Bolton. The North Korean delegation included Kim Yong Chol, a top aide to Kim Jong Un who recently met Trump at the White House.
10:30 a.m.
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman says he received a call from the White House ahead of President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Rodman told CNN from Singapore on Tuesday that a White House staffer called the former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant to tell him the president was proud of him.
Rodman struck up an unlikely friendship with Kim over their shared love of basketball, but he says former President Barack Obama never took him seriously.
Rodman described Kim as a “big kid” who wants to see the world. The former basketball player was very emotional in the interview, openly weeping as he spoke.
Rodman is in town for the summit, but the White House had said he will play no official role.
10:10 a.m.
President Donald Trump is sounding optimistic about his ability to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program after a lengthy one-on-one meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump said Tuesday at the beginning of expanded discussions with aides from both countries that “We will solve a big problem” and “a big dilemma.”
He talked about the pair achieving “tremendous success together” and predicts that “it will be successful. It will be done.”
It was hard to hear the president and Kim over the constant clicking of camera shutters, and it remains unclear precisely what he was referring to.
But Kim appeared to echo the president’s optimism.
9:55 a.m.
President Donald Trump says that his one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “very, very good” and that the two have an “excellent relationship.”
Trump and Kim met for about 40 minutes Tuesday one-on-one, joined only by interpreters.
Trump made the comments as he and Kim walked together along balcony as they headed to a larger meeting with aides.
Trump was flanked in the larger meeting by chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. They sat across the table from Kim and his team.
9:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump is predicting that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have “a terrific relationship” as they meet face to face for the first time.
Trump said Tuesday after meeting Kim that he’s feeling “really great.” He says, “We’re going to have a great discussion and a terrific relationship.”
Kim says through an interpreter that it “was not easy to get here” and that there “were obstacles but we overcame them to be here.”
The two men are expected to meet on their own for the better part of an hour, with only a pair of interpreters in the room.
That decision has raised concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness.
9:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are sharing a historic handshake as they meet for the first time.
The two clasped hands for a long while Tuesday as they posed for photos in front of a row of U.S. and North Korean flags. Trump then directed Kim to walk down a hallway, where they briefly spoke.
It’s the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader.
Trump and Kim arrived not long ago on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, the site of their unprecedented summit. It’s aimed at settling a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.
The two will huddle alone for roughly 45 minutes before being joined by aides for a larger meeting and working lunch.
Trump has said he’ll know within minutes whether a deal can be made.
8:35 a.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived at Singapore’s Sentosa Island, where he’ll be meeting shortly face-to-face with President Donald Trump.
The two men are expected to share a handshake before they meet alone with a pair of interpreters for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby.
After the intimate huddle, they’re scheduled to hold a larger meeting and working lunch. Trump’s chief of staff, national security adviser and secretary of state are among those expected to join.
The meeting is the first sit-down between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader and is meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
Trump earlier defended his decision to meet with Kim, tweeting that North Korea has already released three detainees and that missile tests have halted.
8:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump has arrived on Singapore’s Sentosa Island for his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump’s motorcade pulled into the grounds of the Capella Hotel at 8:13 a.m. Tuesday local time.
He is scheduled to meet Kim for the first time at 9 a.m.
Kim is also en route to Sentosa Island for the meeting to discuss the fate of his country’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
8:15 a.m.
Kim Jong Un’s entourage has left for the luxury Singapore island resort where the North Korean leader will meet with President Donald Trump.
Kim’s black armored limousine with two large North Korean flags was surrounded Tuesday by police vehicles, their lights flashing, and other black cars.
There’s excitement surrounding the summit but also skepticism that the North will relinquish a nuclear weapons program it spent decades building despite crushing sanctions.
Kim and Trump are scheduled to meet alone, with their interpreters, after greeting each other at the resort.
7:50 a.m.
North Korea’s state media has reported on Kim Jong Un’s late-night tour of Singapore with unusual speed.
Pyongyang’s official Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday filled its front page with photos of his visits to Singapore’s landmarks, including the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands resort.
The North’s Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying that Singapore is “clean and beautiful and every building is stylish” and that he will learn “a lot from the good knowledge and experience of Singapore in various fields in the future.”
It’s rare that security-obsessed North Korea reports on Kim’s activities within hours. When Kim visited China for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in March and May, state media didn’t report on the trips until after he returned home.
Some experts say North Korea is trying to keep up with the speed of the Western media in Singapore.
7:05 a.m.
President Donald Trump is sitting down with Fox News host Sean Hannity after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Fox News says the interview will take place Tuesday at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Trump and Kim are set to meet on Sentosa Island on Tuesday morning for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby.
The interview is set to air on Fox’s “Hannity” at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast, which is 9 a.m. Wednesday in Singapore.
Fox News says Trump will talk about the meeting with Kim and future relations between the two countries.
Hannity is a friend and confidant of the president and speaks out in support of Trump on his show.
6:20 a.m.
President Donald Trump says the “haters & losers” are complaining that his meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un is a “major loss,” but he notes that the U.S. has gotten its three captives returned and that the North’s nuclear missile launches have stopped.
Trump tweeted early Tuesday from Singapore, just hours before his face-to-face with Kim.
He says, “The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers.” But he says “our hostages” are back home and testing, research and launches have stopped.
He says, “These pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say!”
Critics have argued that Kim has notched a win by getting a sit-down with the U.S. president.
5:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump says “we will all know soon” whether he can reach a deal with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to end its nuclear program.
Trump is tweeting hours before the leaders’ historic face-to-face that, “Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly.”
But he says that “in the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!”
Before leaving Washington for Singapore, Trump said his gut instincts will guide him when he gets into the room with Kim.
He told reporters he’ll know almost immediately whether a deal can be made, saying: “I will know, just my touch, my feel. That’s what I do.”
Their meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Singapore time.
4 a.m. (Read more: N. Korea military ‘all quiet’ ahead of summit)
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. has picked up no indications that North Korea’s military is in a heightened state of alert in the run-up to the Singapore summit.
Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday that “All’s quiet” in North Korea.
Mattis is declining to discuss his expectations for President Donald Trump’s meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
He says he does not expect it to include a negotiation over reducing the number of U.S. troops in South Korea — currently about 28,000. He says that, at least initially, this is a matter between Washington and Seoul.
1:45 a.m.
For better part of an hour, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will square off one on one, alone but for a pair of translators. That’s raising concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness.
Trump and Kim will meet on Singapore’s Sentosa Island for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby.
The huddle will come before a larger meeting and a working lunch attended by top advisers to the president and their North Korean counterparts.
Word of the private meeting unleashed a torrent of criticism on social media from national security veterans who worry the lack of a transcript will create a he-said-he-said showdown that could turn into a major headache for Trump.
12:40 a.m. (Read more: Former NBA star Rodman arrives in Singapore for Trump-Kim summit)
Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has arrived in Singapore, hours before President Donald Trump is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time.
Rodman emerged from the baggage claim area at Changi airport around midnight Monday. He told reporters he wasn’t sure if he would meet Kim in Singapore.
Last week, Rodman said he would “give whatever support is needed” to his “friends” Trump and Kim.
White House officials have said Rodman will play no official role in the diplomatic negotiations. Trump said last week that Rodman had not been invited to the summit.
He is one of the few westerners to have met the North Korean leader on visits to the capital city Pyongyang.
11:30 p.m.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to seize the opportunity “to support a peaceful, prosperous, secure and verifiably denuclearized Korean Peninsula.”
The U.N. chief is commending the two leaders for pursuing a diplomatic solution and “seeking to break out of the dangerous cycle that created so much concern last year.”
Guterres told reporters Monday ahead of the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore that “peace and verifiable denuclearization must remain the clear and shared goal.”
The secretary-general says he wrote to both leaders last month saying “the road ahead will require cooperation, compromise and a common cause.”
He says the U.N. system “stands ready to support this process in every way, including verification if requested by both parties.”
11:15 p.m.
Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is warning that if President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fail to reach a deal at their Singapore summit, there’s an increased danger for a “catastrophic” military solution.
Perry says, “If it falls apart, it’s probably worse than as if we ever started.”
Perry says he’s hopeful the two leaders will discuss normalization of ties as well as denuclearization to improve the prospect for long-term success of any deal.
He spoke Monday to The Associated Press at a Luxembourg Forum Conference on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe event in Geneva.
Perry also served as President Bill Clinton’s special envoy to North Korea and traveled there in 1999 to discuss its nuclear and missile programs.
11 p.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump plans to visit U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii on the return from his historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Trump is expected to depart Singapore on Tuesday night after his meeting with Kim on Sentosa Island. Before leaving Singapore, the president is scheduled to address the media.
The White House says the president will stop at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Tuesday and also travel to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii later in the day.
The president visited the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor last November on his way to Asia.
Trump is expected to return to the White House on Wednesday morning.
10:30 p.m.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (le dree-AHN) says he will be the first one to applaud U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un if they reach a deal on nuclear weapons disarmament of the Korean Peninsula.
Le Drian says that “everything that has to do with disarmament is positive.”
The French foreign minister met Monday with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom in Stockholm. Le Drian cautions “we have been enthusiastic before and it has led to failures.”
Wallstrom hosted talks in March with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Stockholm. She says one should be prepared for both “a fruitful meeting and a failure.”
9:56 p.m.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is out of his luxurious hotel for a late-night city tour hours ahead of his summit with President Donald Trump.
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (Bal-a-krish-nan) says Kim went to the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on Monday night.
The foreign minister posted a photo showing him with Kim at the place on Facebook.
South Korean media says Kim went there with his sister Kim Yo Jong and other top deputies.
Kim is meeting Trump on Tuesday for a historic summit aimed at discussing the future of his nuclear program.
It would be the first summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader.
8:20 p.m.
The White House says in a statement ahead of President Donald Trump’s historic summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un that the talks with North Korea are moving “more quickly than expected.” The White House says Trump now plans to depart Singapore on Tuesday evening ahead of schedule.
The White House says Trump will address the media on Tuesday following his summit with Kim and depart Singapore at approximately 8 p.m. local time for the United States. The president had been expected to leave Singapore on Wednesday morning.
Trump is set to meet with Kim in Singapore on Tuesday morning.
7:30 p.m.
Seoul says President Donald Trump talked with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) about his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed optimism for a diplomatic breakthrough.
South Korea’s presidential office says Trump filled Moon on the details of the pre-summit negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. The Blue House didn’t elaborate on what Moon was told during the 40-minute telephone call.
The Blue House says Moon told him South Koreans will be praying for a “miraculous result.”
Moon said earlier he hopes the summit will be a “historic milestone” for peace but it will only be the first step in a complex and lengthy process. Moon says the hostility “cannot be solved at once by a single meeting between the leaders.”
6:25 p.m.
Iran says North Korea should be wary of negotiating with President Donald Trump following his withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Monday that North Korea should approach this week’s summit with Trump with “awareness.” He says Iran views Trump and the United States with “great pessimism,” saying they are known for “quitting treaties and violating their commitments.”
Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the Obama administration had reached with Iran, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. The agreement required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Trump has announced the restoration of U.S. sanctions, while European leaders are trying to preserve the deal.
The U.S. president is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday.
6:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to return to Singapore for a state visit this fall.
That’s according to Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Trump is expected to travel to Asia in November in conjunction with a pair of regional summits.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the president’s fall plans.
A White House read-out of Trump’s meetings with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) Monday did not include mention of a state visit.
Singapore will be hosting Trump’s summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
6:00 p.m.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is prepared to take actions to provide North Korea with “sufficient certainty” that denuclearization “is not something that ends badly for them.”
Pompeo is briefing reporters in Singapore ahead of President Donald Trump’s summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He says the U.S. is prepared to show North Korea that rather than denuclearization posing a threat to North Korea, it’s “the opposite.”
Pompeo won’t say whether Trump would consider withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula.
Pompeo says that U.S. sanctions on the North will remain in place until the North denuclearizes. But he says if diplomacy fails to move in the right direction, the sanctions “will increase.”
5:50 p.m.
President Donald Trump called the leaders of South Korea and Japan Monday ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
That’s according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is briefing reporters in Singapore. He says Trump spoke by phone with the two U.S. allies as preparatory talks continue between American and North Korean officials ahead of the leader sit-down Tuesday morning.
Pompeo says there is “enormous potential” for the summit, but lowered expectations that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will happen after one meeting. He says: “We are hopeful the summit will have set the conditions for future productive talks.”
Pompeo also says Tuesday’s meeting presents a test of Kim’s willingness to agree to deal his nuclear weapons away for “protections” from the United States.
3:05 p.m.
The lobby of President Donald Trump’s hotel in Singapore has turned into a bustling mixing ground for U.S government officials of all stripes.
At the swanky Shangri-La Hotel, Secret Service officers are huddling in preparation for the president’s movements. White-uniformed U.S. Navy members are perched on pearl-colored couches. Top State Department officials can be seen strolling through the lobby. An Associated Press journalist spotted CIA officer Andy Kim, a Korea expert and part of the U.S. delegation, making his way through.
They’re joined by seemingly unsuspecting tourists, youth groups and a curiously dressed bellman with a tall, plumed hat.
The hotel was picked in part due to its experience in hosting high-security events. Recently top military officials including U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis were at the hotel for the Shangri-La Dialogue, a global defense summit.
2:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump has returned to his hotel in Singapore following a lunch meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng).
Singapore is hosting Tuesday’s historic summit between Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un to discuss the fate of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who sat next to Trump at the lunch, says in a statement that Trump is “well-prepared” for the meeting.
Pompeo met Kim during two visits to North Korea in the lead-up to Tuesday’s summit.
Trump was scheduled to attend a meet-and-greet at his hotel with U.S. Embassy personnel.
2:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump got an early birthday celebration during lunch with Singapore’s prime minister.
Trump met with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) and aides to both leaders Monday. Singapore’s minister for foreign affairs tweeted a photo of Trump and a cake adorned with one candle.
The caption said: “Celebrating birthday, a bit early.”
Trump turns 72 on Thursday.
But before he celebrates, Trump meets North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in a highly anticipated summit on Tuesday.
2 p.m.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN’) has no current plans to join President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the end of their summit Tuesday in Singapore.
Moon spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom also said Monday that Moon has no plans yet to speak with Trump after the meeting.
Moon has expressed hope that the summit will lead to a three-way declaration also including Seoul to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War. But Moon’s spokesman says it’s unlikely that such a declaration would take place while Trump and Kim were still in Singapore.
Trump has raised the possibility of further summits and an agreement ending the Korean War by replacing the armistice signed in 1953 with a peace treaty. China and South Korea would have to sign off on any legal treaty.
1:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he thinks “things can work out very nicely” with North Korea on the eve of his historic summit with Kim Jong Un.
Trump expressed optimism about Tuesday’s meeting during a working lunch with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) and aides to both leaders.
Trump says “we’ve got a very interesting meeting, in particular, tomorrow, and I think things can work out very nicely.” He also tells Lee the decision to hold the summit in the island city-state of Singapore was “made very consciously” and offers thanks.
Trump tells Lee that “we appreciate your hospitality and professionalism and your friendship.”
1:05 p.m.
President Donald Trump has thanked the prime minister of Singapore for hosting Tuesday’s historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump told Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) that it was a “real honor” to be with him. Trump commented as representatives from both countries took their seats for a working lunch at Singapore’s government house.
The discussions come on the eve of Trump’s historic meeting with Kim.
Trump and Lee shook hands for photographers after a one-on-one meeting and before they entered the room for lunch.
Among those representing the U.S. at lunch are Secretary of Secretary Mike Pompeo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser John Bolton.
1 p.m.
The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines, Sung Kim, plans another round of meetings Monday afternoon with North Korean officials as both sides continue to prepare for Tuesday’s summit in Singapore.
That according to a senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration. The official was not authorized to comment publicly about on internal deliberations and requested anonymity.
Trump is set to hold a historic summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on the island city-state.
Sung Kim has taken the lead on policy negotiations with North Korea. Sung Kim held an initial round of meetings with the North earlier Monday.
12:20 p.m.
President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un spent Monday huddling with advisers in luxury Singapore hotels less than half a mile apart, readying for a nuclear summit that could define the fate of millions, and their own political futures.
Both sides also worked to finalize preparations for the unprecedented summit.
The meeting was kicking off at 9 a.m. Tuesday with a handshake between Trump and Kim. A U.S. official says the leaders then plan to meet one on one, joined only by translators, for up to two hours before admitting their respective advisers.
The official was not authorized to speak publicly about internal deliberations and insisted on anonymity.
Tuesday’s summit will be the first between a North Korean leader and a sitting American president.
Source: Associated Press
