Trump meets PM Lee at Istana ahead of Trump-Kim summit
SINGAPORE - US President Donald Trump shared a warm handshake with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in front of cameras at 12.45pm on Monday (June 11), as they began their meeting at the Istana.
Trump, in his presidential state car nicknamed The Beast, left the Shangri-La Hotel with his delegation at about 11.45am for the working lunch. They arrived at the Istana before noon.
He was accompanied by a convoy of more than 30 vehicles. Journalists and cameramen have been standing by around the hotel and the Istana for Trump since about 10.30am.
Trump's delegation includes the following:
Stephanie Syptak-Ramnath, Chargé d'affaires of US Embassy in Singapore; Mr Matthew Pottinger, Senior Director for Asian Affairs of the US National Security Council (NSC); Mrs Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House Press Secretary; Mr John Bolton, US National Security Advisor; Mr Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State; Mr John Kelly, White House Chief of Staff; Mr Stephen Miller, Senior Advisor to the President for Policy; Ms Mira Ricardel, Deputy National Security Advisor; Ms Sarah Tinsley, NSC Senior Director for Strategic Communications; Mr Peter Michael McKinley, US Ambassador to Brazil, and Ms Melissa Brown, Counsellor for Economic and Political Affairs at US Embassy in Singapore.
The Straits Times understands the lunch is being catered by Gordon Grill at Goodwood Park Hotel. Dishes on the menu include angus beef tenderloin and lobster bisque.
Trump landed at Paya Lebar Air Base just the night before, after attending the G-7 summit in Canada. He retracted his endorsement of the major economic powers' joint communiqué while on his way to Singapore.
He is expected to have a meet and greet session with US embassy staff after his engagement at the Istana.
Meanwhile, diplomats from the US and North Korea are meeting behind closed doors at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Singapore, in a final-hour bid to narrow their differences ahead of the summit between Mr Trump and Mr Kim Jong Un on Tuesday morning.
Former US Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim, who has been leading the US in talks with North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui in the border truce village of Panmunjom since last month, is said to be continuing the discussions with his counterpart in Singapore.
Top on the agenda is Pyongyang's complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. Mr Kim is likely to ask for a security guarantee and the easing of sanctions in return, say analysts. A peace treaty ending the 1950-53 Korean War may also be on the table.
Before sitting down for talks on Tuesday, Mr Trump intends to meet one-on-one with Mr Kim briefly, say media reports, citing sources.
Trump on Saturday said he believes he would know "within the first minute" of meeting Mr Kim if the North Korean leader is serious about surrendering his nuclear arsenal.
Sources say the two men will meet briefly, with just their interpreters but no aides in the room.
Top aides will join them for the formal talks later, and they will most likely include US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, as well as Mr Kim's sister, Ms Kim Yo Jong, and former spy chief Kim Yong Chol.
The summit is the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, and comes after a year of tension on the Korean Peninsula stoked by Mr Kim's numerous missile tests and a "maximum pressure" campaign led by the US to curb Pyongyang.