On August 16, U.S. President Donald Trump posted one other {photograph} of himself with North Korean chief Kim Jong Un on Reality Social. Trump famous that the 2 didn’t look significantly pleasant in that picture, however added that they really “get alongside GREAT.” The subsequent day, Trump once more invoked his relationship with Kim whereas describing North Korea as having been “unthreatening and respectful” throughout his presidency.
This was not the primary time Trump had posted comparable messages. There’s little doubt that Trump desires to fulfill with Kim, as he did thrice throughout his first time period in workplace. The extra attention-grabbing query is whether or not the curiosity is mutual. Would Kim additionally need to meet Trump once more?
Many analysts appear to imagine that he wouldn’t. Kim is in a stronger place at this time than he was throughout his summit diplomacy with Trump in 2018 and 2019. Russia’s army and financial cooperation with North Korea has lowered Pyongyang’s urgency to acquire sanctions aid from Washington. Moscow has additionally considerably weakened the United Nations sanctions regime by vetoing the renewal of the Panel of Specialists to observe sanctions implementation. In the meantime, China has been restoring its relationship with North Korea, whereas bilateral commerce has returned to pre-pandemic ranges. Kim due to this fact has much less fast want for a cope with Washington.
But there are nonetheless not less than six compelling the explanation why he would possibly need to meet Trump.
First, a summit with Trump might assist Kim additional consolidate North Korea’s standing as a nuclear-armed state. Trump has repeatedly described North Korea as a nuclear-armed nation. On October 24, 2025, earlier than his Asia tour, Trump was requested whether or not he would acknowledge North Korea as a nuclear state. He responded that North Korea “already” had many nuclear weapons. He had additionally beforehand referred to North Korea as a “nuclear energy.” Such remarks don’t quantity to formal U.S. recognition of North Korea as a respectable nuclear-weapon state. Nonetheless, from Kim’s perspective, Trump will be the first – and maybe the final – American president prepared to barter with him on the premise of North Korea’s possession of nuclear weapons. One other summit might additional consolidate North Korea’s standing as a de facto nuclear state, even within the absence of formal recognition.
Second, Kim might use negotiations with Trump to scale back the safety menace posed by U.S. Forces Korea (USFK). Trump has lengthy argued that U.S. allies ought to assume extra duty for their very own protection. His current Reality Social message urged that this view continues to affect his strategy to Korea. Citing the excessive price of South Korea-U.S. army workout routines, Trump mentioned that he had instructed Secretary of Protection Pete Hegseth to “considerably scale back the Joint Navy Workout routines.” For Pyongyang, which has lengthy portrayed these workout routines as rehearsals for invasion, such a discount would have apparent strategic worth. Trump might not withdraw U.S. forces from South Korea altogether, however Kim might fairly anticipate him to scale back the dimensions of USFK, in addition to its position and actions on the peninsula.
Third, renewed summit diplomacy might scale back Kim’s concern of direct U.S. army motion towards him. Latest American operations, together with the seize of Venezuelan chief Nicolas Maduro and the warfare with Iran, have demonstrated Washington’s skill to mix exact intelligence with refined army capabilities. Pyongyang has lengthy frightened about the opportunity of a U.S. “decapitation” operation concentrating on the North Korean management. North Korea’s nuclear arsenal offers highly effective deterrence towards a serious assault, however Kim can’t solely disregard the opportunity of a decapitation assault towards him throughout an excessive confrontation. Restoring private diplomacy with Trump would considerably scale back such a danger.
Fourth, enhancing relations with america would give North Korea better room to maneuver in its relationship with China. Pyongyang has lengthy sought to use competitors amongst nice powers to protect its autonomy, and China isn’t any exception. North Korea relies upon closely on China’s financial assist, however dependence has by no means meant full political belief. Its nuclear weapons are primarily supposed to discourage america, however they’ll additionally give Pyongyang better autonomy from Beijing. North Korean leaders have often urged that higher relations with Washington might serve the same goal. Former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recounted separate conversations held a long time aside, during which Kim Jong Il after which Kim Jong Un expressed considerations about China and an curiosity in nearer relations with america as a counterweight.
Fifth, a breakthrough with Washington might assist Pyongyang isolate South Korea diplomatically. In early 2024, North Korea formally deserted its longstanding dedication to reunification and started defining South Korea as a separate and “hostile” state. Pyongyang has since proven little curiosity in reversing this strategy. It has rejected the Lee Jae-myung administration’s persistent provides of dialogue whereas sustaining an adversarial posture towards Seoul. A Kim-Trump assembly might reinforce this technique. By dealing straight with the U.S. president, Kim might exhibit that main points in regards to the Korean Peninsula could be negotiated between Pyongyang and Washington with out Seoul taking part in a task.
Sixth, one other summit with Trump might strengthen Kim’s home legitimacy. The political advantages could possibly be even better than these of the earlier summits in 2018 and 2019. As mentioned above, if Kim can certainly enhance relations with america whereas retaining his nuclear weapons, decreasing the U.S. army presence in South Korea, balancing towards China, and sidelining South Korea, he might declare an achievement worthy of being known as a “strategic genius.” This is able to be significantly helpful at a time when Kim might face home questions in regards to the prices and casualties related to North Korea’s army deployment to Russia. A profitable summit might present an vital new supply of status and political legitimacy.
One remaining query is how China would view one other Kim-Trump summit. Pyongyang has not all the time been obedient to Beijing’s calls for, and it will be tough for China, in precept, to forestall North Korea from pursuing a summit with america. Nonetheless, Beijing would need to be certain that its affect and pursuits are mirrored in any North Korea-U.S. summit. That is one purpose why Xi Jinping traveled to Pyongyang for the primary time in seven years to fulfill Kim Jong Un in individual. If Kim goes to fulfill Trump, North Korea and China would have incentives to coordinate strategically to extract the best attainable concessions from america on points corresponding to U.S. army actions on the Korean Peninsula and close to the Taiwan Strait.
In brief, Kim Jong Un has extra causes to pursue a gathering with Trump than to hesitate. Though it’s tough to foretell the precise timing, the chance of one other Kim-Trump assembly stays excessive. For this reason analysts must intently watch the structural adjustments {that a} new North Korea-U.S. summit might deliver to East Asia, in addition to the strategic intentions of the international locations concerned.
