The majority of the political engagements between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un will take place in the overnight hours.  Vietnam is 12 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern time.
President Trump is in Vietnam for his second summit with Chairman Kim. The two men first met last June in Singapore, a summit that was the first person-to-person contact between leaders of the U.S. and North Korea.  The structure of the visible public engagement is to reach an agreement where North Korea will give up its nuclear arsenal and enter the economic world of peaceful nations.

Those who follow China and North Korea closely see a much bigger, non-discussed geopolitical effort and engagement.  Within this dynamic a more complex objective is to rescue Chairman Kim from the clutches of oppressive generational control by Beijing, China.
Chairman Xi does not want to give up control and President Trump is leveraging full U.S. economic pressure upon China to break the grip. Technically, President Trump is on the most complex, challenging and historic hostage rescue mission; and the entirety of world’s media cannot see it.  Wed. Hostage Rescue Schedule and Livestream Below:

  • 10:35pm EST / 10:35am (local) – President Trump departs the RON en route to the Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 10:55pm EST / 10:55am (local) – President Trump aprrives at the Presidential Palace, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 11:00pm EST / 11:00am (local) – President Trump participates in a photo opportunity with the General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 11:10pm EST / 11:10am (local) – President Trump participates in an expanded bilateral meeting with the General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam

  • 11:45pm EST / 11:45am (local) – President Trump participates in a signing ceremony for commercial trade agreements with the General Secretary of the Communist Party and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 11:55pm EST / 11:45am (local) – President Trump departs the Presidential Palace en route to the Office of Government Hall, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 12:00am EST / 12:00pm (local) – President Trump arrives at the Office of Government Hall, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 12:05am EST / 12:05pm (local) – President Trump participates in a photo opportunity with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 12:15am EST / 12:15pm (local) – President Trump participates in a restricted bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 12:30am EST / 12:30pm (local) – President Trump participates in an expanded working lunch with the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 1:35am EST / 1:35pm (local) – President Trump departs the Office of Government Hall en route to the RON, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 1:55am EST / 1:55pm (local) – President Trump arrives at the RON, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 5:55am EST / 5:55pm (local) – President Trump departs the RON en route to the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 6:15am EST / 6:15pm (local) – President Trump arrives at the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 6:30am EST / 6:30pm (local) – President Trump participates in a greeting with the Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 6:40am EST / 6:40pm (local) – President Trump participates in a one-on-one conversation with Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 7:00am EST / 7:00pm (local) – President Trump participates in a social dinner with Chairman Kim Jong-un of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 8:35am EST / 8:35pm (local) – President Trump departs the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi en route to the RON, Hanoi, Vietnam
  • 8:55am EST / 8:55pm (local) – President Trump arrives at the RON, Hanoi, Vietnam

Day #1 (Wednesday Local) concludes.

HANOI – The White House said Trump would meet Kim at Hanoi’s French-colonial-era Metropole Hotel at 6:30 p.m. (6:30am U.S. EST), and have a 20-minute one-on-one conversation before a dinner scheduled to last just over an hour and a half.
[…]  The two leaders, who seemed to strike up a surprisingly warm relationship at their first summit in Singapore last June, will be accompanied at dinner by two aides and interpreters, the White House said, before they meet again on Thursday. (link)

Don’t be surprised to see the 6:30 to 8:30pm time together between President Trump and Chairman Kim get extended; perhaps significantly extended.  President Trump has a tendency to engage complex issues simply by cutting through the Gordian knot.
Both advance teams from the U.S. and DPRK have been on the ground in Hanoi for several weeks working out details comfortable to both leaders.
Livestream:


Share