Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Trump-Kim Go One-on-One: Who Will Know What Was Really Said?
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
February 27, 2019

Share

HANOI, Vietnam — Only four other ears on the planet heard what President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said to each other Wednesday during a one-on-one chat that began their second nuclear summit.
The two leaders’ interpreters were the only others privy to their conversation, raising concerns about why Trump would risk meeting Kim, who has threatened the U.S. with nuclear strikes and has a dismal human rights record, without staff to take notes.

Republicans blocked it. The White House has never provided information on what Putin and Trump talked about. Even Trump’s director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said he didn’t know.
Absent a detailed historical record and corroborating witnesses, the leaders could potentially leave a meeting and misrepresent what transpired, prompting a kind of he said-he said showdown of words.
More one-on-one talks between Trump and Kim are scheduled for Thursday, when the two leaders dig into the meat of their nuclear talks.
Trump has had private confabs with world leaders before that have raised red flags.
Early in his presidency, he met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Germany with only a Kremlin interpreter present. Last year, after Trump spent more than two hours talking with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, Democrats tried to subpoena Trump’s translator to testify in Congress about what was said.
Republicans blocked it. The White House has never provided information on what Putin and Trump talked about. Even Trump’s director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said he didn’t know.

Some Experts Worry About Private Sit-Downs

“It is utterly amazing, utterly amazing, that no one knows what was said,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at the time.
Trump’s translator in Wednesday’s private chat was Yun-hyang Lee, the U.S. State Department’s division chief for interpreting services, who also translated for the president at his first meeting with Kim last year in Singapore. The White House identified Kim’s translator as Sin Hye Yong.
Some experts on past U.S.-North Korean diplomatic efforts worry the private sit-downs give Kim an opportunity to win concessions from Trump that working-level officials would have advised him not to offer.
Before the summit, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said he thought Kim requested the private meeting with hopes that he could “elicit concessions from President Trump that might not otherwise be possible if it was just our diplomats talking one on one.”
Others think there’s nothing wrong with the president’s penchant for one-on-one meetings with world leaders.
“I don’t find that they’re nefarious,” said retired Army Lt. Col. Daniel Davis with the Defense Priorities think tank, which advocates against overusing military action to solve foreign policy challenges.
“I think he’s just more comfortable doing it that way,” Davis told reporters at a summit briefing.
Davis pointed to President Richard Nixon’s many private confabs with Chinese leaders when he reopened relations with China in the 1970s.

Trump Caught U.S. Ally South Korea off Guard

Last year, at the Singapore summit, Trump caught U.S. ally South Korea off guard by announcing the suspension of major U.S. military exercises with the South. Trump critics said he squandered critical U.S. leverage before the North took any concrete steps toward denuclearization.

“There’s always a certain level of risk in this kind of meeting, but it’s hard to say Trump will be dragged into a decision by Kim just because of what happened in Singapore.” — Bong Young-shik, an analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University
It was widely presumed that Trump made the decision during his private talks with Kim — his description of the war games as “very provocative” seemed to be in line with North Korea’s view of the drills as rehearsals for invasions. Both Washington and Seoul have insisted for years that the exercises were routine and defensive in nature.
Bong Young-shik, an analyst at Seoul’s Yonsei University, was less worried, saying that the criticism Trump faced in Singapore could make him less likely to make huge, impulsive decisions during his private meetings with Kim this time around.
“There’s always a certain level of risk in this kind of meeting, but it’s hard to say Trump will be dragged into a decision by Kim just because of what happened in Singapore,” Bong said.
Former President Barack Obama was known to occasionally hold impromptu chats with leaders on the sidelines of major global summits with only their interpreters at their sides.
At former President Ronald Reagan’s first meeting with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1985, the two men met alone with only trusted interpreters. Only 15 minutes had been allotted for the discussion, but it went on for an hour.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Trump Warns Protests at Army Parade Will Be Met With Force

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Teaching Antisemitism in Arizona’s Public Schools

16 hours ago

US Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted on Federal Charges From Skirmish at New Jersey Immigration Center

16 hours ago

Nintendo Switch 2 Smashes Record as Company’s Fastest-Selling Console

TOKYO — Japan’s Nintendo said on Wednesday it had sold more than 3.5 million Switch 2 units in the first four days after its launch, m...

31 minutes ago

31 minutes ago

Nintendo Switch 2 Smashes Record as Company’s Fastest-Selling Console

38 minutes ago

Machado Pounds Devastated Dodgers Pitching Staff in Easy Padres Win

51 minutes ago

Giants Edge Rockies on Yastrzemski’s RBI. They’ve Won 6 Straight Games by 1 Run

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs, center, applauds for those affected by the Los Angeles area wildfires as she gives the State of the State address in the House of Representatives at the state Capitol with Speaker of the House Rep. Steve Montenegro, R-Litchfield Park, left, and Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, flanking the governor on Jan. 13, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP File)
16 hours ago

Arizona Governor Vetoes Bill to Ban Teaching Antisemitism in Arizona’s Public Schools

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., demands the release of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka after his arrest while protesting outside an ICE detention prison, May 9, 2025, in Newark, N.J, (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)
16 hours ago

US Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted on Federal Charges From Skirmish at New Jersey Immigration Center

President Donald Trump prepares to deliver remarks during a visit to Fort Bragg to mark the U.S. Army anniversary, in North Carolina, U.S., June 10, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
17 hours ago

US Military Bases to Restore Names Changed After Racial Justice Protests, Trump Says

18 hours ago

Clovis Councilmember Basgall Says He Won’t Run for Re-Election

19 hours ago

An Unknowing Fresno County Gave Community Medical $2.7M While Hospital Engaged in Kickback Scheme

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend