Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
President Donald Trump is reportedly departing from Singapore earlier than he was expected to after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set the deadline for their highly anticipated summit on Tuesday.
- President Donald Trump is reportedly departing from Singapore earlier than expected after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set a deadline for their highly anticipated summit on Tuesday.
- Kim is reportedly scheduled to depart Singapore just seven hours after his meeting with Trump is set to begin.
- Trump was open to staying in Singapore longer in case things went well and North Korea wanted to continue the discussion, but moved up his departure time after finding out when Kim was leaving.
President Donald Trump is reportedly departing from Singapore earlier than expected after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set a deadline of sorts for their highly anticipated summit.
Kim is expected to depart from Singapore on Tuesday afternoon at around 4 p.m. local time, which is roughly seven hours after the summit is set to begin, Bloomberg reported.
This offers a fairly limited amount of time to discuss the breadth of issues on the table - including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, which is the Trump administration's ultimate goal in terms of negotiations with North Korea.
With that said, in recent days the White House has emphasized Tuesday's meeting will be the first step in a broader process. On Sunday, Trump said he'd know "within the first minute" whether Kim will agree to denuclearization.
Trump was open to staying in Singapore longer in case things went well and North Korea wanted to continue the discussion, according to reports. But he's now reportedly scheduled to depart from Singapore at 7 p.m. local time, just a few hours after Kim.
After a photo op early on Tuesday, Trump and Kim are set to have a one-on-one meeting in which they will only be accompanied by translators. There will then be a bilateral meeting that will include some of Trump's top advisers, followed by a working lunch.