U.S. President Donald Trump is reassuring everyone on Twitter that the U.S. “will be fine” just hours before a historic meeting between himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The meeting is set to begin at 9 p.m. local time – or 9 a.m. ET. Trump said just hours before the face-to-face that “meetings between staffs and representatives are going well” and that he’ll know soon whether there can be a “real deal.”
Trump also lauded some achievements of his since the election on Twitter – deriding the “haters & losers” who disprove of the meeting saying “we will be fine.”
Along with the denuclearization of North Korea, Kim and Trump are expected to talk about economic sanctions on the Asian nation.
The subject of human rights is expected to take a backseat, despite Trump saying in his State of the Union address in January that “No regime has oppressed its own citizens more totally or brutally than the cruel dictatorship in North Korea.”
U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he does not expect the two to focus on the topic of U.S. troops in South Korea (there are about 28,000 of them.)
He says that, at least initially, this is a matter between Washington and Seoul.
Kim Jong Un is expected to leave Singapore at 2 p.m. local time, whereas Donald Trump is expected to leave at 7 p.m.
The president planned to stop in Guam and Hawaii on his way back to Washington.
Tumultuous year for North Korea-U.S. relations
Nearly one year ago, Trump referred to Kim as “little rocket man.” In retaliation, Kim threatened to send missiles at the U.S. territory of Guam, and called Trump a “mentally eranged U.S. dotard.”
Since then, relations between the two have calmed – Trump has called Kim “very honourable.”
The meeting marks the first time a U.S. president has met with Kim Jong Un.
*with files from the Associated Press and Global’s Katie Dangerfield
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