Kim showered Trump with flattery in letter before Hanoi summit
Source: NBC News
Kim showered Trump with flattery in letter before Hanoi summit
While North Korea's Kim sought to praise the president and sideline his envoys, U.S. officials and allies worked to keep him from cutting a lopsided deal.
March 28, 2019, 7:28 PM EDT
By Dan De Luce and Courtney Kube
WASHINGTON — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un heaped praise on President Donald Trump in a letter to the White House before a summit between the two leaders last month in Vietnam, while making clear he wished to negotiate only with the president and not his envoys, current and former U.S. officials told NBC News.
The letter appeared aimed at cutting out the U.S. envoy to North Korea, Stephen Beguin, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in the discussions on the regime's nuclear and missile arsenal, while seeking to appeal to the president's ego, said one current and two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
While Kim sought to curry favor with Trump before the Hanoi meeting, their second one-on-one summit, officials across the U.S. government as well as allied governments worked to prevent the president from giving up too much in the negotiations, the current and former officials said.
"A huge amount of energy was devoted to avoiding disaster," said one former U.S. official. "They were playing defense."
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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/north-korea/kim-showered-trump-flattery-letter-hanoi-summit-n988641
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