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Trump's renewed outreach to Kim Jong-un signals a fresh bid to reopen nuclear talks with Pyongyang despite North Korea's expanded arsenal and stronger ties with Russia and China.
UPDATED: Aug 19, 2026 08:38 IST
In a bid to revive one of the most dramatic diplomatic initiatives of his first term, US President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing his aides to arrange an in-person summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as early as this November.
Trump has privately discussed the possibility of meeting Kim during his next trip to Asia, with a potential opportunity coming in November when he is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, according to the report, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The renewed push comes days after Trump announced a cutback in a joint US-South Korea military exercise and explicitly cited his relationship with Kim.
No formal arrangements for a Trump-Kim summit have been made, and it remains unclear whether Pyongyang would agree to such a meeting. A White House official said Trump and Kim would meet "at an appropriate time".
During his first term, Trump and Kim held three meetings, beginning with their historic 2018 Singapore summit, where they became the first sitting US and North Korean leaders to meet and pledged to work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Their second summit, in Hanoi in February 2019, ended abruptly without an agreement over differences on sanctions relief and denuclearisation.
In June 2019, the two held an impromptu meeting at the Demilitarised Zone, where Trump briefly crossed into North Korea, becoming the first sitting US president to set foot in the country.
Trump's latest comments on military exercises with South Korea have added to speculation that he is preparing the ground for renewed diplomacy with Pyongyang.
Earlier this week, while announcing that the US would reduce the scale of a joint military drill with South Korea, Trump said the decision was partly influenced by his "very good relationship with Kim Jong Un".
The US President, however, gave a different explanation when questioned about the decision later, saying South Korea's position on the Strait of Hormuz had also played a role. Trump also confirmed that Kim had responded to his recent outreach, without disclosing what the North Korean leader had said.
The reduction in military exercises is significant because similar moves were made during Trump's first presidency as Washington tried to create an atmosphere for negotiations with Pyongyang. North Korea has long regarded the US-South Korea military exercises as a direct security threat and has routinely demanded their cancellation.
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Published On:
Aug 19, 2026 08:38 IST
