After two years of plans falling through, and summits in other parts of the world, President Donald Trump finally got his made for TV moment with Chairman Kim Jong Un of North Korea. After a tweet suggesting the two might meet at the DMZ, the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, a true border as President Trump described it, Kim took Trump up on the offer.
“I never expected to meet you at this place,” Kim told the president as they shook hands over the border with international media members jockeying for the best position to snap a photograph of the historic moment between the two.
‘Would you like me to step across?” the president asked Kim, who indicated that yes he would.
And so it was that President Donald Trump did what no other American president has done. He actually put his feet on North Korean soil before sitting down with Kim and President Moon of South Korea for a face to face meeting lasting just under an hour.
It was a made for TV moment, and President Trump, a businessman who knows the value of being a showman from time to time, milked it for all he was worth. Chairman Kim, as well, used the opportunity to stand tall with a bit of swagger, and at least give off the aura of a man in control.
For the most part, meetings of this nature take weeks to months to plan and pull off given the sheer number of details that need to be worked out. According to all reports from White House staffers, this meeting was not done with the luxury of time. It really was a spur of the moment sort of thing, and aside from the new White House Press Secretary being manhandled by North Korean security, it largely succeeded as President Trump’s most successful made for TV diplomatic moment yet.
