Excitement in the air, Trump says ahead of Singapore summit
Summit
The US president arrived in Singapore on Sunday night and on Monday morning he was scheduled to meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at The Istana, the presidential office and residence
The president of the United States said Monday there was excitement in the air in Singapore ahead of the historic summit on Tuesday when he will meet with the North Korean leader.
"Great to be in Singapore, excitement in the air!" Donald Trump wrote on his Twitter account.
The US president arrived in Singapore on Sunday night and on Monday morning he was scheduled to meet with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at The Istana, the presidential office and residence.
Trump was also due to have a working lunch with Lee and representatives of both governments before meeting in the afternoon with staff of the US embassy in Singapore.
The agenda of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who arrived in Singapore on Sunday afternoon and also met with Lee, remains unknown.
Meanwhile, the delegations from the US and North Korea began a meeting on Monday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel at 10 am local time to finalize the agenda of the summit. Sung Kim - a Washington delegate who has led talks on Pyongyang's nuclear program over the past decade - was heading the US team, according to the White House.
The summit between Trump and Kim is scheduled to start at 9 am on Tuesday at the Capella Singapore. It will mark the first encounter between North Korean and US leaders after nearly 70 years of confrontation and 25 years of failed negotiations as well as tensions as a result of Pyongyang's nuclear programs.
Despite the summit looming, it appeared Trump could not free his mind from the trade row he had with his allies during the G7 summit in La Malbaie, Canada, on Saturday.
"Why should I, as President of the United States, allow countries to continue to make Massive Trade Surpluses, as they have for decades. Not fair to the PEOPLE of America!" Trump wrote in a series of tweets on the subject on Monday.
After the weekend's G7 summit, the US president rejected a joint communique over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaking out against Washington's new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Trudeau has wowed "retaliatory tariffs."