Trump-Kim Singapore summit: What went on during the day
IT began with the 13-second handshake that transfixed the world before turning into — in the words of Kim Jong-un — something “from a science fiction movie”. Here’s how the day unfolded.
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THE portly dictator said it best when he turned to American President Donald Trump, not long after the 13-second handshake that transfixed the world.
“Many people in the world will think of this as a …form of fantasy,” North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said through his translator.
“From a science fiction movie.”
Indeed.
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Norms have been shattered since the moment in March when President Trump agreed to the first meeting between a sitting US president and a leader of North Korea.
Coming after a year where the pair’s trading of increasingly personal and juvenile insults was meshed with chilling nuclear threats, news of the summit of the century came as a shock to not just the world, but some of the most senior members of the Trump administration.
The up-ending of protocol continued, when the leaders of the two warring nations spent the first 38 minutes of their historic get-together alone, but for a pair of translators.
They were then each joined for more detailed discussions by their respective delegations, which on each side included provocative inclusions.
Picture: Getty Images
Among Mr Trump’s six attendees was his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton, who has previously called for “regime change” in North Korea – surely one of dynastic leader Mr Kim’s greatest fears – and who was partially responsible for starting the fight with Pyongyang last month that briefly aborted the on-off summit.
One of the seven Pyongyang aides was Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Choe Son Hui, whose labelling of US Vice President Mike Pence as a “dummy” was what prompted Mr Trump to call the whole thing off. For a week.
After the extended bilateral, it was time for lunch, but first, the always image-conscious Mr Trump wanted to make sure he was coming off in the right light.
“Getting a good picture everybody? So we look nice and handsome and thin?” he asked a group of photographers and cameramen.
“Perfect.”
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The fusion menu fittingly included American, Singaporean and Korean options, starting with a traditional prawn cocktail, green mango salad or stuffed Korean cucumber.
Despite the muggy, 32-degree noon conditions, diners were offered heavy options of a French confit of beef short rib, crispy pork with XO sauce or Korean braised cod, before finishing with a selection of ice cream, chocolate tarts or a brioche and cream Tropezienne tart.
Outside, as the world watched and waited for the closed doors of the meeting to open, television networks in search of commentators did what they could.
Enter kooky former basketball star Dennis Rodman, a longtime friend of both leaders, who broke down on CNN wearing a red Make America Great Again trucker cap.
“It’s a great day. I am here to see it. I’m so happy,” he said, tears running past his nose-ring.
Before it came time to talk about the “top of the line, really good” deal the pair hammered out, Mr Trump took a few moments to show off his presidential limousine known as “The Beast”, a nine tonne black armoured Cadillac, to Mr Kim, pointing out the back of the vehicle and patting him again on the back.
The night before, Mr Kim was out sampling the sites of Singapore, on a selfie-studded tour that ended with a rock star welcome from more than a hundred tourists and fans in a luxury hotel.
If your mission was to sell capitalism, there are few locations to better make your case than the boat-shaped rooftop resort atop the triple towers of the Marina Bay Sands casino and hotel.
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With its 360-degree view of the booming island city-state, distant glistening lights of Indonesia and the wealth-delivering Strait of Malacca through which much of the world’s trade flows, it exemplifies all the upsides of commerce.
It was in the foyer of this one-time world’s most expensive hotel that the infamous communist despot, who brings his own toilet when he travels overseas to ward off sewer-diving spies, was feted by a crowd that included genuine fans.
Entrepreneur and mother of two Pinky Malhotra, of Utra Pradesh in India, waited in a penned up area of the lobby with her two children aged seven and three.
“I am really excited to see him because he is a powerful leader,” she said of Mr Kim.
“He is the man here who can tell America who is the boss.
“It’s about two countries - who has the power? I think it is him and I want my kids to see that.”
Minutes later, with a shiny face and beaming smile, the tyrant – who has ordered the murder of at least two close family members, repeatedly threatened to nuke the West out of existence and brutalised his own people since assuming power in 2011 – was jubilant as he waved at the cheering crowd.
Less than 12 hours before potentially the most important meeting of his life, it was clear Mr Kim, who admittedly hasn’t travelled much, was just loving the attention.
We may never know the inner workings of Mr Kim’s mind as he was followed by his famous running bodyguards into the $8 billion hotel, but he looked very much like a man gazing into the future and wondering if he too, could get a cut of the action.
Brought to this point by crushing sanctions implemented under Mr Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy, Mr Kim was no doubt fully aware how much was at stake when he presented a far more sober face to meet Mr Trump.
That image alone seemed stranger than fiction: the international pariah beside the former reality star-turned US president on equal footing in front of the alternating flags of their countries.
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