President Donald Trump is reportedly considering extending an invitation to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un to visit his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida if nuclear disarmament talks in Singapore go well next week.
The report comes from Bloomberg News, which does not source the claim that Trump could invite Kim to Mar-a-Lago:
Trump has been advised not to offer Kim any concessions, as the White House seeks to put the onus on the North Koreans to make the summit a success, one U.S. official said. The president is determined to walk out of the meeting if it doesn’t go well, two officials said. Alternatively, Trump is toying with the idea of offering Kim a follow-up summit at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida—perhaps in the fall—if the two men hit it off.
“There could be more than one meeting, more that one conversation” between Trump and Kim, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters Wednesday, adding a nuclear deal may take “2, 3, 4, 5” meetings.
Other than announcing that the two leaders will first meet at 9 a.m. Singapore time June 12 at the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, the White House has described no schedule for the summit. If the first meeting goes well, there will be further events that day and perhaps even on June 13.
In theory, the invitation would be consistent with Trump’s previous hosting of foreign leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the resort. In practice, the spectacle of Kim Jong-un strolling around Mar-a-Lago is mind-boggling to contemplate, especially if Dennis Rodman also shows up.
Bloomberg News mentions that Singapore will be the furthest trip Kim has made since assuming control of the North Korean government, so he is likely to find Mar-a-Lago even more exotic. It would be an interesting sign of progress in negotiations if the notoriously security-conscious Kim agreed to journey all the way to Florida.
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