US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un smiled, shook hands and dined Wednesday in Hanoi, expressing optimism that their highly personal brand of diplomacy will lead to a deal on the totalitarian state's nuclear weapons. At the start of around two hours of talks and dinner at a luxury hotel in the Vietnamese capital, Trump predicted a "very successful" summit, now due to resume Thursday.
The two-day get-together is following up on the leaders' initial historic meeting in Singapore in June, where Trump launched his charm offensive to try and get Kim to give up his nuclear arsenal. Shaking hands and smiling in front of a bank of a dozen alternating US and North Korean flags, they briefly took questions from reporters before starting one-on-one talks, then the dinner.
Critics said the Singapore summit was light on concrete results but Trump said the Hanoi talks would be "equal or better than the first" time. Kim said: "I am certain that a great outcome will be achieved this time that will be welcomed by all people." Earlier, Trump sent a tweet touting North Korea's "AWESOME" potential if his "friend" Kim agrees to relinquish his weapons.
But the president risks being distracted by scandal back in Washington, where his former lawyer Michael Cohen was set to describe him as a "conman" in nationally televised, bombshell testimony to Congress starting shortly after Trump got back to his hotel on the other side of the world. Asked by reporters if he had any reaction to Cohen's testimony, Trump simply shook his head.
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