Happy Birthday, Mr. President: Trump is presented with a birthday cake as he meets with Singapore Prime Minister and reveals U.S. will offer 'unique' security guarantees to North Korea during a single meeting and working lunch with Kim

  • The U.S. president arrived in Singapore on Sunday evening local time for talks with North Korea that could change the course of history and earn him the Nobel Peace Prize, if successful
  • Trump's skeptics say this week's summit with Kim Jong-un will serve as little more than a misguided photo-op  
  • Billionaire president reassured naysayers Friday that he has 'been preparing all my life' for sit down with Kim
  • Says he expects to know 'within the first minute' if his negotiation partner is serious about denuclearization
  • The White House has confirmed the two leaders will speak one-on-one with only translators present
  • Trump says he anticipates the summit in Singapore that begins on Tuesday morning local time to be the first of several meetings that will lead to a deal
  • Today he meets with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, following in Kim Jong-un's footsteps Sunday  

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President Donald Trump will meet North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un one-on-one when the two leaders come face to face for the first time at a summit in Singapore on Monday evening at 9pm EST, (9am Tuesday, Singapore time).

A U.S. official said Trump and Kim will speak with only translators present before a joint meeting with their delegations, as is consistent with the way that conversations with foreign leaders are typically handled. The president usually spends several minutes alone with his counterparts before moving into expanded bilaterals.  

A White House statement on Monday evening in Singapore said the meeting would be followed by a working lunch and press avail before Trump departs for Washington a day earlier than was anticipated. 

'The discussions between the United States and North Korea are ongoing and have moved more quickly than expected,' the statement said in an explanation of Trump's newly announced Tuesday evening departure. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told journalists during a briefing several hours earlier that Trump is 'going into this meeting with confidence, a positive attitude and an eagerness for real progress' toward North Korean disarmament.

He also said that America is prepared to offer Kim 'unique' security guarantees if the country is willing to give up its nuclear weapons.

Trump and Kim are now in Singapore ahead of talks, having both arrived on Sunday. 

Kim Jong-un posed for a selfie in Singapore on Monday night as he took a sightseeing tour around the city ahead of his summit with President Trump.

The North Korean dictator was pictured at the Gardens by the Bay with Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan around 9.30pm.

He then went to enjoy views over the city from the top of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and casino, according to reports on social media.

Trump celebrated his 72nd birthday early today after the country's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented him with a cake at lunch. Trump's birthday is later in the week on June 14. 

Donald Trump arrived in Singapore on Monday ahead of his meeting with North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un and was presented with an early 72nd birthday cake by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

Donald Trump arrived in Singapore on Monday ahead of his meeting with North Korea dictator Kim Jong Un and was presented with an early 72nd birthday cake by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

President Trump holds up a menu from the working luncheon that accompanied bilateral talks

The White House has confirmed that Trump, pictured having lunch with Prime Minister Loong, will speak with Kim Jong Un one-on-one when the summit gets underway

After sharing a working lunch with PM Lee, Trump spent his evening in briefings with senior members of his administration, a White House official told DailyMail.com

After sharing a working lunch with Mr Lee, Trump was due to spend his evening on Monday in briefings with senior members of his administration ahead of his meeting with Kim on Tuesday

Trump is being accompanied to the summit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured to his left) who has said America is prepared to offer North Korea 'unique' security guarantees if the country agrees to give up its nukes

Trump is being accompanied to the summit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pictured to his left) who has said America is prepared to offer North Korea 'unique' security guarantees if the country agrees to give up its nukes

President Donald Trump says there is 'excitement in the air' in Singapore, where he spent his afternoon at the presidential palace in Singapore in several sessions and a working lunch with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

President Donald Trump says there is 'excitement in the air' in Singapore, where he spent his afternoon at the presidential palace in Singapore in several sessions and a working lunch with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

At the meal, Trump told Loong that he is preparing for a 'very interesting meeting tomorrow' with Kim. 

'We've got very interesting meeting in particular tomorrow,' he said, 'and I just think it's going to work out very nicely.'

Singapore's foreign minister tweeted a picture of Trump after the meeting grinning while being applauded by his chief of staff and secretary of state during the luncheon that was closed off to press.

The visit to see Lee was the only outward facing item on Trump's agenda on the eve of his high-stakes negotiations with Kim.

A meet and greet at Trump's hotel with embassy staff was held off camera, and after lunch the White House said there would be no more appearances on Monday in public for the U.S. president.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Raj Shah told DailyMail.com that Trump, who was not accompanied abroad by the first lady, would spend his evening in briefings with senior staff preparing for the summit with Kim that was due to kick off first thing on Tuesday.

An initial meeting was to take place at 9 am local time with the potential for others to follow.

Kim Jong-un posed for a selfie in Singapore on Monday night as he took a sightseeing tour around the city ahead of his summit with President Trump.

Kim Jong-un posed for a selfie in Singapore on Monday night as he took a sightseeing tour around the city ahead of his summit with President Trump.

President Donald Trump is spending his afternoon at the presidential palace in Singapore in several sessions and a working lunch with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

President Donald Trump is spending his afternoon at the presidential palace in Singapore in several sessions and a working lunch with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

U.S. President Donald Trump and his delegation have lunch with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and officials at the Istana in Singapore. To the president's left is White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. And to his right is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also at the table: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller

U.S. President Donald Trump and his delegation have lunch with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and officials at the Istana in Singapore. To the president's left is White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. And to his right is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also at the table: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, National Security Advisor John Bolton and Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller

Pompeo told reporters on Monday evening in remarks echoing a Saturday declaration by the president that 'this is truly a mission of peace' and said he is 'hopeful that the summit will set the conditions for future productive talks.'

He also swatted down a New York Times report that claimed the U.S. lacked the technical expertise to have a conversation about the dismantling of North Korea's nuclear weapons program in real time.

Pompeo said that the president's senior-most expert in weapons of mass destruction is on the ground in Singapore and that officials with PhDs in every relevant area are waiting on standby in Washington.  

'The ultimate objective we seek from the diplomacy with North Korea has not changed. The complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is the only outcome that the United States will accept,' he asserted at a televised briefing. 

Until that time, he said 'sanctions will remain' in place and 'those measures will increase' if talks with North Korea stall. 

If Kim plays ball, however, Pompeo said Trump is prepared to ensure that a WMD-less North Korea is secure.

'We're prepared to take security assurances that are different, unique, than have been provided, that America's been willing to provide previously. We think this is both necessary and appropriate,' he asserted.

Pompeo refused to say what those security assurances were. 'There's gonna be a lot of work left to do there's a lot of detail that's gotta be provided, we are not going to conduct these negotiations in the open with media,' he stated. 'We're gonna conduct them between the two parties so that we have an opportunity to have a real success here.'

He also declined to comment on the Trump's fight with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a White House official's comment on Sunday that he deserves a 'special place in hell' for attempting to embarrass the president just before the nuclear summit.

'I came here today, here in Singapore, to talk about North Korea,' he said, offering broad remarks on the United States' relationships with its G7 allies. 'There are always irritants in relationships. I am very confidence the relationship between our countries, the United States and those G7 countries will continue to be and move forward on a strong basis.'

He added: 'I am unconcerned about our capacity to continue to do what we need to do to get out what we're looking for in North Korea as a result of what you described having taken place.' 

If Kim plays ball, however, Pompeo said Monday Trump is prepared to ensure that a WMD-less North Korea is secure

If Kim plays ball, however, Pompeo said Monday Trump is prepared to ensure that a WMD-less North Korea is secure

Trump's wide open schedule on Monday morning left the U.S. president plenty of time to tweet about Trudeau and the United States' European allies even as he was supposed to be turning his attention to the Kim summit.

He sent several messages playing up the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and the European Union before landing on the point of his present trip.

'Great to be in Singapore, excitement in the air!' he stated.

Trump did not take questions about the status of the summit from press as he met with Lee at the presidential palace.

The two leaders shared a quick handshake and then walked into their working lunch behind aides staffing them during the two-hour visit. 

Trump told his host, 'We do appreciate your hospitality, your professionalism, and your friendship.'

Lee said to him at the luncheon table 'thank you' in the only remarks that were captured by journalists. 

A security vehicle in the motorcade transporting U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the Istanaa on Monday

A security vehicle in the motorcade transporting U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the Istanaa on Monday

President Trump is seen waving from the window of his limo, which travels with the U.S. president everywhere he goes, in Singapore on Monday

President Trump is seen waving from the window of his limo, which travels with the U.S. president everywhere he goes, in Singapore on Monday

The motorcade transporting U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the Istana, or presidential palace, in Singapore on Monday afternoon

The motorcade transporting U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the Istana, or presidential palace, in Singapore on Monday afternoon

GET BACK! Hotel security staff try to hold back members of the press as the car carrying United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim tries to leave the Ritz-Carlton hotel after a meeting with North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui on Monday

GET BACK! Hotel security staff try to hold back members of the press as the car carrying United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim tries to leave the Ritz-Carlton hotel after a meeting with North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui on Monday

A tweet from Singapore's foreign minister later showed President Trump being presented with a birthday cake while Pompeo and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly clapped. 'Celebrating birthday, a bit early,' the caption said.  

Earlier in the day North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui and a delegation of North Korean officials met with U.S. officials, including United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Singapore to negotiate the final details of tomorrow's summit.

As the lunch was concluding, Pompeo said in an update,'The President and the entire U.S. team are looking forward to tomorrow's summit. We have had substantive and detailed meetings to date, including this morning with the North Koreans.

'I would like to thank our Singaporean hosts for their gracious hospitality in helping to organize the summit,' he said. 'The President is well-prepared for tomorrow's engagement with Chairman Kim. The U.S. position remains clear and unchanged.'

Trump's wide open schedule on Monday morning left the U.S. president plenty of time to tweet

Trump's wide open schedule on Monday morning left the U.S. president plenty of time to tweet

North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui (2nd-R) arrives at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Singapore on Monday for meetings with the U.S. delegation

North Korean vice-foreign minister Choe Son Hui (2nd-R) arrives at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Singapore on Monday for meetings with the U.S. delegation

The U.S. president arrived in Singapore on Sunday evening local time for talks could change the course of history and earn him the Nobel Peace Prize, if successful in convincing the world's most isolated nation to end its pursuit of mankind's most deadly weapons.

After a grueling 21 hours of travel that included a refueling stop on a Greek island, Trump touched down at Paya Labar Air Base in Singapore. He told journalists nearby he was feeling 'very good' about his meeting on Tuesday with Kim and then sped off in his motorcade to conclude his first evening in the country in privacy of his room at the Shangri-La, the luxury hotel housing the U.S. delegation.

He followed in the footsteps of Kim today by meeting with Lee after the North Korean leader yesterday met with the head of the summit's host nation after his own arrival on Sunday afternoon via an Air China flight.

Kim is staying at the St. Regis hotel, near Trump. The foreign leaders will hold their summit at a third location, the Capella Resort, ensconced on 30 acres of land south of the city on Sentosa Island. 

Their face-to-face discussion tomorrow will be a first between a U.S. president and North Korean autocrat since Kim's grandfather, Kim Il-sung, assumed power in 1948.

President Trump has boldly predicted that the summit with Kim Jong-un will be a 'great success' and have a positive outcome not just for the two parties but for the world at large. 

And if the summit doesn't go as planned, the Trump administration said Sunday it would be Canada's fault for trying to exploit its relationship with the U.S.

'Sorry, we cannot let our friends, or enemies, take advantage of us on Trade anymore,' Trump tweeted. 'We must put the American worker first!' 

Trump signaled Monday in his first tweets from Singapore exactly where his focus was heading into a nuclear summit with Kim Jong-un - and it wasn't on the decades-old dispute with North Korea over its threatening behavior.

Trump instead took aim at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he's been sparring with from across the International Dateline over steel and aluminum tariffs the U.S. imposed on its allies in the name of national security.

'Fair Trade is now to be called Fool Trade if it is not Reciprocal,' Trump on Monday morning harrumphed. 'According to a Canada release, they make almost 100 Billion Dollars in Trade with U.S. (guess they were bragging and got caught!). Minimum is 17B. Tax Dairy from us at 270%. Then Justin acts hurt when called out!'

The European Union was next on Trump's list, with the president complaining in follow-up tweets that the U.S. foots the bill for the bulk of the West's shared security through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization only to get ripped off by the very same countries in the trade arena.

Only after the rant did Trump mention the 'excitement in the air' in Singapore, the high-class city that doubles as a nation and is generously footing bill for his $20 million Kim summit.

After pitching himself as the world’s greatest negotiator with an unmatched ability to drive a bargain, Donald Trump will have his shot this week at one of the white whales of high-stakes deals: a North Korean nuclear accord. Trump is seen here arriving Sunday night in Singapore

After pitching himself as the world's greatest negotiator with an unmatched ability to drive a bargain, Donald Trump will have his shot this week at one of the white whales of high-stakes deals: a North Korean nuclear accord. Trump is seen here arriving Sunday night in Singapore

After a grueling 21 hours of travel that included a refueling stop on a Greek island, Trump touched down at Paya Labar Air Base on Sunday evening

After a grueling 21 hours of travel that included a refueling stop on a Greek island, Trump touched down at Paya Labar Air Base on Sunday evening

He gave a short wave to the press, and told journalists nearby he was feeling 'very good' about his meeting on Tuesday morning local time with Kim Jong-un

He gave a short wave to the press, and told journalists nearby he was feeling 'very good' about his meeting on Tuesday morning local time with Kim Jong-un

US President Donald Trump (C) is welcomed by Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (L) after Air Force One arrived at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on Sunday evening

US President Donald Trump (C) is welcomed by Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (L) after Air Force One arrived at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore on Sunday evening

In this photo released by the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore, Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan greets Kim at the Changi International Airport on Sunday

In this photo released by the Ministry of Communications and Information of Singapore, Singapore Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan greets Kim at the Changi International Airport on Sunday

Police officers patrol outside  the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore ahead of the summit between  Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump is staying in the Shangri-La for the duration of the summit

Police officers patrol outside  the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore ahead of the summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump is staying in the Shangri-La for the duration of the summit

A vehicle carrying Kim Jong-un travels through Singapore on Sunday. Kim had not been seen out and about on Monday

A vehicle carrying Kim Jong-un travels through Singapore on Sunday. Kim had not been seen out and about on Monday

Spectators gathered to watch the Air China flight carrying Kim land on Sunday afternoon local time in Singapore

Spectators gathered to watch the Air China flight carrying Kim land on Sunday afternoon local time in Singapore

A first-term president with no prior political experience who has a flare for the dramatics, Trump's skeptics say this week's summit with Kim will serve as little more than a misguided photo-op.

His admission in the lead up to the trip that he'd done little to get ready for the face-to-face with the 33-year-old dictator and was relying on his 'attitude' and 'willingness' to strike an accord did little to lessen anxiety at home that Trump would make a catastrophic mistake. 

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday chided that 'the situation is far too dangerous for seat of the pants negotiating' after warning Trump earlier in the week against entering an agreement with Kim 'just for the sake of reaching a deal.'

The sniping from the sidelines prompted Trump to charge that Schumer and his party 'did NOTHING about North Korea' and is now 'telling me what to do at the Summit the Dems could never set up.'

'Schumer failed with North Korea and Iran,' he tweeted, 'we don't need his advice!' 

The 71-year-old billionaire whose birthday is Thursday reassured naysayers Friday that he has 'been preparing all my life' for the showdown with Kim and said Saturday at a media availability that 'within the first minute' he expects to know if his negotiation partner is serious about denuclearization.

'I think I'll know pretty quickly whether or not, in my opinion, something positive will happen,' Trump said at an impromptu news conference after the G7 summit. 'And if I think it won't happen, I'm not going to waste my time. I don't want to waste his time.'

Trump has repeatedly said he will get up and leave the meeting that he now claims will be only a first step in the direction of North Korean denuclearization if talks are not productive.

'I think it's a 'getting to know you' meeting, plus,' he said last week, setting expectations, after a visit from Kim's lead negotiator. 'And that can be a very positive thing,' he added. 

A first-term president with no prior political experience who has a flare for the dramatics, Trump’s skeptics say this week’s summit with Kim will serve as little more than a misguided photo-op

A first-term president with no prior political experience who has a flare for the dramatics, Trump's skeptics say this week's summit with Kim will serve as little more than a misguided photo-op

Following a short conversation with Singapore government officials sent to greet him, the U.S. president then sped off in his motorcade to conclude his first evening in Singapore in the privacy of his room at the luxury hotel housing the U.S. delegation.

Following a short conversation with Singapore government officials sent to greet him, the U.S. president then sped off in his motorcade to conclude his first evening in Singapore in the privacy of his room at the luxury hotel housing the U.S. delegation.

Kim and Trump are not in the same hotel. the North Korean dicator is staying at the nearby St. Regis hotel in Singapore during the summit

Kim and Trump are not in the same hotel. the North Korean dicator is staying at the nearby St. Regis hotel in Singapore during the summit

Police inspect vehicles at a checkpoint at the back of the St Regis Hotel on Sunday

Police inspect vehicles at a checkpoint at the back of the St Regis Hotel on Sunday

Members of the North Korean delegation are seen in Singapore on Sunday

Members of the North Korean delegation are seen in Singapore on Sunday

Security was heightened outside of the hotels the two men are staying at, as well as the site of the summit on Sunday

Security was heightened outside of the hotels the two men are staying at, as well as the site of the summit on Sunday

Trump's determination that he would not be able to persuade Kim in one sitting to drop his country's decades-old pursuit of a nuclear warhead with the power to destroy cities inside the United States provided for an easy-to-meet goal for his administration – just showing up to the meeting he called off once already.

'I did it once before,' he pointed out Friday at a Rose Garden news conference. 'You have to be able to walk away.'

For Kim to get a sustained audience with the president or a visit later in the negotiations to the White House, the Trump administration says North Korea will have to do more than exchange niceities.

A detailed task list and timetable for disarmament, however, has not been communicated by the U.S. government.

'I think it's a process. I've told you that many times before. I think it's not a one meeting deal,' Trump told reporters Thursday. 'It will be wonderful if it were.'

The U.S. president and former reality TV star insisted that the meeting will be 'at a minimum' the beginning of 'a good relationship' between himself and Kim.

'And that's something that's very important toward the ultimate making of a deal. I'd love to say it could happen in one deal, and maybe it can,' he said. 'They have to denuke. If they don't denuclearize, that will not be acceptable. We cannot take sanctions off; the sanctions are extraordinarily powerful.'

Trump's administration has been unwavering in its demand that North Korea must completely and verifiably end its nuclear weapons program to earn sanctions relief.

The Trump administration and North Korea have wildly different interpretations, though, of what it means to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

For North Korea, the Heritage Foundation's Bruce Klingner explains, denuclearization includes 'anything that impacts or influences' the land mass, including nuclear-capable submarines and aircraft in Guam.

'So if the president is going in and not realizing how North Korea defines things, and that if you don't have clearly delineated text,' he said, 'then you might agree to something verbally or on paper, where North Korea has a far different interpretation of it than the US. has.'

Singaporean gather in front of the Istana Presidential Palace, where North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were about to meet in Singapore

Singaporean gather in front of the Istana Presidential Palace, where North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong were about to meet in Singapore

Kim meets with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Sunday

Kim meets with Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Sunday

The two letters met for private talks prior to Trump's arrival; the U.S. president will take his turn with the PM on Monday=

The two letters met for private talks prior to Trump's arrival; the U.S. president will take his turn with the PM on Monday

Kim Yong Chol, a close aide to North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, walks in the Istana

Kim Yong Chol, a close aide to North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un, walks in the Istana

Police officers escorting the motorcade of Kim park after he arrives at the Istana

Police officers escorting the motorcade of Kim park after he arrives at the Istana

Pompeo has twice met with Kim since early April to lay the groundwork for this week's talks. He said Thursday that the U.S. had narrowed the gap between its vision of denuclearization and the one that's being used by North Korea during recent sessions, yet declined to say exactly where that leaves the two parties.

'What I have said publicly is he has indicated to me, personally, that he is prepared to denuclearize; that he understands that the current model doesn't work, that he's prepared to denuclearize,' Pompeo told journalists from the White House's podium.

Alluding to a failed deal with North Korea that former President Bill Clinton's administration brokered and one with Iran that Barack Obama's government signed and Trump last month withdrew from, Pompeo said Kim 'understands that we can't do it the way we've done it before' and that denuclearization cannot be a years-long process.

He allowed that 'this doesn't happen instantaneously' and will take time.

'But that the model for succeeding — security assurance; and political normalization; and denuclearization completely, verifiably, and irreversibly — for that to take place, we've got to make bold decisions,' he stated.

Trump has targeted North Korea with what his administration calls a 'maximum pressure' campaign meant to starve Kim of the resources and funding he needs to fully realize his country's long-held nuclear ambitions that he has pledged to keep in place into the brutal leader who ascended the throne in 2011 breaks.

The international sanctions levied by the United Nations, and layered on by the U.S., have mostly cut North Korea off from crude oil and outside transactions of any type.

'I could add a lot more, but I don't — I've chosen not to do that at this time,' Trump said Thursday in an admission that the U.S. is not using 'maximum pressure' to break North Korea. 'But that may happen,' he said during remarks in the Oval Office with visiting leader Shinzo Abe.

He said later, at a joint news conference with the Japanese prime minister, that use of the term 'maximum pressure' at all following his conversation with Kim should serve as a red flag to those reading the tea leaves about the outcome of the tete-a-tete.

'We don't use the term anymore because we're going into a friendly negotiation. Perhaps after that negotiation I will be using it again,' he stated. 'You'll know how well we do in the negotiation. If you hear me saying we're going to use 'maximum pressure,' you'll know the negotiation did not do well, frankly. There's no reason to say it.'

The jet carrying Kim landed at Singapore's Changi airport on Sunday afternoon amid huge security precautions on the city-state island

The jet carrying Kim landed at Singapore's Changi airport on Sunday afternoon amid huge security precautions on the city-state island

In this Saturday, June 9, 2018, photo, a surveillance camera is seen at the entrance to the driveway of Capella Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore. A new surveillance camera is installed and restaurants closed on Singapore's Sentosa Island, a popular tropical getaway now easing into the political spotlight ahead of Tuesday's summit

In this Saturday, June 9, 2018, photo, a surveillance camera is seen at the entrance to the driveway of Capella Hotel in Sentosa, Singapore. A new surveillance camera is installed and restaurants closed on Singapore's Sentosa Island, a popular tropical getaway now easing into the political spotlight ahead of Tuesday's summit

The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will be held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island

The historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un will be held at the Capella Hotel on Singapore's Sentosa Island

It was restored as a five-star hotel in 2009 by British architect Norman Foster and still retains many of its colonial features

It was restored as a five-star hotel in 2009 by British architect Norman Foster and still retains many of its colonial features

North Korea, for its part, was listening out for another term in the United States' rhetoric that it deemed too aggressive – the 'Libya model' for denuclearization. Kim's regime beat up both the president's national security adviser, John Bolton, and his vice president, Mike Pence, for using phrase that has historically negative connotations.

Libya's Muammar Gadhafi was ousted and executed following a voluntary abandonment of nuclear weapons that he thought would be accompanied by assistance and protection from the United States.

Gadhafi did not have a formal agreement with the U.S. like the one that Trump is pledging to strike with North Korea. Nor did he receive the type of assurances that he'd be propped up as Trump has done for Kim.

Trump says the U.S. will make sure that Kim remains in power if he denuclearizes. He has also floated economic prosperity, in the form of new investment from American companies, as a motivator for Kim to decide he's worthy of doing business with.

For Kim to take the enormous risk of ending the nuclear weapons program that made him a household name around the world to begin with, North Korea has said it will need hefty security assurances that it has not entirely outlined publicly.

Former CIA Director James Clapper says Trump should agree to a diplomatic presence in Pyongyang. The ex-spy chief says that Trump should recognize that Kim's regime is likely to ask for a commitment from the United States to pull back on its military presence on the peninsula.

'We should be mindful that that could easily be a two-way street in that the North Koreans could easily demand that we denuclearize, meaning no more B-1's, B-2's or B-52's on the Peninsula, or within operational proximity of the Peninsula,' Clapper said last week in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. 'And I hope we're ready to deal with that. They are paranoid about our bombers.' 

Where will the summit be held? The macabre history of Sentosa Island where Trump and Kim will meet

Restaurants have been closed and a new surveillance camera was installed on Singapore's Sentosa Island - a popular tropical getaway that has been thrust into the spotlight ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. 

The resort island plans to keep welcoming tourists this week despite boosted security for the summit at the 112-room Capella Singapore hotel.

A group of journalists gathered outside the hotel and across the road, waiting for signs that officials had arrived. But only authorized vehicles were allowed to enter, and hotel restaurants were not taking reservations until after the summit.

Police have marked the island and some of its surrounding waters as a 'special event area,' where loud-hailers, flags or banners over a metre-long or wide are banned.

Part of the facade of the five-star Capella Hotel (pictured centre) is seen on Sentosa Island in Singapore, where Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet

Part of the facade of the five-star Capella Hotel (pictured centre) is seen on Sentosa Island in Singapore, where Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will meet

Located a quarter mile off the coast of Singapore, Sentosa is no stranger to celebrities and VIPs. It is linked to the city by a bridge and home to high-end resorts, golf courses and a large amusement park.

But the macabre history of the island, which will become the venue of the historic summit on Tuesday, is less known.

In the 18th century, when Singapore was a British colony, an unknown epidemic killed off most of its population of 60. Only two households survived.

During World War II, the British used artillery forts and a battery on the island to unsuccessfully fend off a Japanese invasion, which transformed it into a prisoner-of-war camp.

It's no wonder the island was known as Pulau Blakang Mati, which roughly translates as 'island of death from behind.'

In 1970, the island was renamed after a nationwide contest. Sentosa was subsequently developed as a resort and expanded on reclaimed land.

Technicians install a surveillance camera at the entrance of the five-star Capella Hotel on Sentosa island on Saturday

Technicians install a surveillance camera at the entrance of the five-star Capella Hotel on Sentosa island on Saturday

Nevertheless, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's prime minister from 1959 to 1990, used the island to hold long-term political prisoners who were often detained without trial. Chia Thye Poh, a former member of parliament, spent 23 years in jail and under loose house arrest there.

He worked as a freelance translator for the island's management, before he was allowed to visit the mainland for a short time every day and set free.

But these days, Sentosa is a popular resort island, with numerous beaches, hotels and restaurants, and attracts around 19 million visitors every year. 

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Trump said Thursday when it's all said and done he expects the normalization of relations between the U.S. and North Korea. He floated a peace agreement as a potential show of good faith.

'We're looking at it. We're talking about it with them. We're talking about it with a lot of other people. But that could happen,' he said at his news conference on Thursday. 'Sounds a little bit strange, but that's probably the easy part; the hard part remains after that.'

Klingner, an ex-CIA operative who is now a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, cautioned Trump against being too ready to sign an agreement, even one as benign on the surface as declaring peace, however.  

'Even if just a political declaration is made, that could have an impact on alliance deterrence capabilities, which would be dangerous if we don't first address the North Koran threat,' he told DailyMail.

He said any deal that Trump signs must include 'a clear commitment to denculearization' based on the United Nations' standards, not North Korea's, and it must include 'sufficient verification' that Kim has given up all of his nuclear weapons and production facilities.

Beatrice Finh, the executive director of The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), similarly said that a deal must include a timeline for disarmament and a requirement that competent international authorities carry out routine compliance checks. 

Finh said mandatory adoption of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty by both North Korea and the United States, which is a signatory to the UN-treaty but hasn't ratified it, should also be part of any accord that comes about.

'We need to see the international legal framework involved in this deal, not just whatever these two men like that come up with,' she stressed. 

In 2017, Finh accepted a Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of ICAN for the organization's work to implement the test ban treaty. 

She assessed ahead of Trump's meeting with Kim, 'There are no quick fixes to this. This is going to be a long process.

'Going to war is not an option, so we need to work together,' she said, ' and that's also why it important to bring in the international community and the legal framework that exists to build a kind of consistent stable ground for disarming nuclear weapons.'

A sign for a police checkpoint is newly set up in front of the Capella Hotel in Singapore, where Trump and Kim will meet

A sign for a police checkpoint is newly set up in front of the Capella Hotel in Singapore, where Trump and Kim will meet

The potential for a 'bad deal' that leaves America's allies in the region at risk was an issue uniting the left and the right heading into the summit. 

Schumer led a group of seven Senate Democrats in sending a letter to Trump last week stipulating what it would take for him to receive support for a deal in the split party Senate. 

They want a permanent ban on nuclear weapons, as well as language barring North Korean from further developing ballistic missiles.

'If President Trump meets with Kim Jong-un and receives a deal that truly lives up to these principles, he will have made the world a much safer place,' Schumer said during a call with reporters. 'But if he tries to reach a deal with Kim Jong-un, just for the sake of reaching a deal, and the agreement fails to live up to the principles we've laid out, then he'll have been bested at the negotiating table yet again.'

While Trump has not explicitly said that a deal with North Korea would have to include the demands made by Senate Democrats, he lodged a nearly identical list of complaints against the Iran nuclear deal that was brokered by the previous administration. 

Trump has since ended U.S. involvement in the nuclear accord on the grounds that it had a 10-year sunset clause for some operations and did not punish Tehran for the development of ballistic missiles.

He did not comment on the issue of ballistic missiles on Thursday in the Rose Garden as a dispute over short- and long-range missiles came up several times during a joint news conference with Japan's Abe.

Instead, it was the Japanese prime minister who said, 'On this point, between Japan and U.S. and international community share the same view. I am convinced about it.'

As a neighbor to North Korea, Japan is asserting that a deal must ban all ranges of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction and not just the ones with the ability to cross the Pacific to hit targets in the continental U.S.

Trump said Thursday that he was taking into consideration the concerns of all the major players in the region as he sits down with Kim to make a deal – such as South Korea's Moon Jae-in and China's Xi Jingping.

'President Xi of China has been terrific. The border has been certainly more closed than ever before. I'd like them to close it a little bit more, but it's been more closed than ever before,' Trump said of the leader who has become an unlikely friend of his. 'I give President Xi tremendous credit, and I give President Moon tremendous credit. He really would like to see something happen.'

He added, 'They've been living with the threat of war from their beginning, and it doesn't make sense. And I really believe that Kim Jong-un wants to do something. I think he wants to see something incredible happen for the people of North Korea.'

The pressure is on for Trump to come out of the summit with something tangible, even if his administration says that's not the point of the two-party talks - especially in the context of Trump's recent decision to withdraw the U.S. from the nuclear accord it entered into in 2015 with Iran, says Joel Rubin, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs who is an adjunct faculty member at Carnegie Mellon.  

'He can't come back from [talks with] North Korea with an agreement that's three pages after having just ripped up a several hundred page detailed document with Iran and have it pass the laugh test,' Rubin told DailyMail.com.  

The Iran deal, he noted, was the product of years of negotiations.

'So for the president to go to a summit first, is not how it's typically done. It's usually done after most of these issues have been hammered out and there's clarity on the objectives,' he said. 'They want to do it differently, so, OK, good, let them him do it differently, and I think there's value in having him engage. 

'But he needs to stay engaged and he needs to find what they want in order for it to really be an effective negotiation,' Rubin said.

Trump is seen departing Canada for Singapore on Saturday morning local time after leaving the G7 summit early amid a spat with Canada and France

Trump is seen departing Canada for Singapore on Saturday morning local time after leaving the G7 summit early amid a spat with Canada and France

A timeline showing the build-up to the historic Trump-Kim summit

The upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore will kick off a potentially lengthy diplomatic process to try to resolve the standoff over Pyongyang's pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Here's a look at how the diplomacy took shape this year:

January 1: After an unusually provocative 2017 during which North Korea tested a purported thermonuclear warhead and three intercontinental ballistic missiles, Kim tries to initiate diplomacy in his annual new year's address. He calls for improved relations and engagement with South Korea, though adds that he has a nuclear button on his desk. Trump responds on Twitter that he has a bigger and more powerful nuclear button, adding 'and my Button works!'

January 9: North and South Korean officials meet at a border village and agree on North Korea sending athletes and delegates to the Winter Olympics in the South. Hundreds of North Koreans go to the Pyeongchang Games in February, including Kim's sister, who conveys her brother's desire for an inter-Korean summit with South Korea's president.

March 5-6: South Korea's presidential national security director Chung Eui-yong visits Kim in Pyongyang and reports that the North Korean leader is willing to discuss the fate of his nuclear arsenal with the United States.

March 8: South Korean envoys meet Trump in Washington and deliver an invitation from Kim to meet; Trump accepts.

March 27: Kim makes a surprise visit to Beijing for a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in an apparent move to strengthen his leverage ahead of any talks with Trump.

April 18: Trump confirms that Mike Pompeo, then the CIA chief, had met Kim secretly in North Korea and said 'a good relationship was formed' heading into the anticipated summit.

April 21: North Korea says it has suspended nuclear and ICBM tests and plans to close its nuclear test site as part of a shift in its national focus to developing its economy. Trump tweets: 'This is very good news for North Korea and the World.'

April 27: Kim holds a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. The leaders announce aspirational goals of a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and permanent peace.

orth Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, poses with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a photo inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, on April 27

orth Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, poses with South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a photo inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, South Korea, on April 27

May 7: Kim meets Xi again in China and calls for stronger strategic co-operation between the traditional allies.

May 9: Pompeo, now US secretary of state, makes another visit to Pyongyang to prepare for the planned Trump-Kim summit. North Korea releases three Americans who had been imprisoned.

May 10: Trump announces he will meet with Kim in Singapore on June 12. He tweets: 'We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!'

May 12: North Korea says it will hold a ceremony to dismantle its nuclear test site between May 23-25.

May 16: North Korea abruptly cancels a high-level meeting with the South and threatens to cancel the summit with Trump too in protest over US-South Korean military exercises and US comments that the North should follow the 'Libya model' of denuclearisation by eliminating everything upfront. The North says it will not be unilaterally pressured into abandoning its nuclear programme.

May 22: Trump and Moon meet at the White House to discuss the Trump-Kim talks. The South Korean president says the 'fate and the future of the Korean Peninsula hinge' on the meeting in Singapore.

May 24: A senior North Korean diplomat calls US Vice President Mike Pence a 'political dummy' for his comments on the North and says it is up to the Americans whether they 'meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at (a) nuclear-to-nuclear showdown'. North Korea dismantles its nuclear testing ground in front of foreign journalists, but Trump announces hours later that he is pulling out of the summit, citing the North's 'tremendous anger and open hostility'.

May 25: North Korea attempts damage control, saying it is still willing to hold talks with the United States 'at any time, (in) any format'. Moon calls Trump's move to cancel the summit 'very perplexing' and says Washington and Pyongyang should get the talks back on track.

May 26: Kim and Moon meet at a border village in an effort to revive the summit with Trump. Moon says Kim reaffirmed his commitment to denuclearise their peninsula but also said he was unsure whether he could trust the United States to provide a credible security guarantee in return.

May 30: North Korean envoy Kim Yong Chol, the most senior North Korean official to visit the United States in 18 years, arrives in New York for pre-summit negotiations with Pompeo.

June 1: After meeting Kim Yong Chol at the White House, Trump says his meeting with Kim Jong Un is back on for June 12.

June 5: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders tweets that the Trump-Kim meeting will be held at Singapore's Capella Hotel.

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