In Trump's zero-sum world, the summit already has a winner -- and it's not him

“He’s done quite well for himself,” Town said of Kim, who reportedly had a number of top North Korean officials executed by anti-aircraft gun and his half-brother assassinated with a nerve agent in a foreign airport. “He’s really done quite a lot to rehabilitate his reputation.”

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Perhaps more dangerous for the U.S., Japan and particularly South Korea, Trump’s eagerness for the summit has given more leverage to Kim, who may now be in a much better position to give only token concessions in return for a meeting that puts him on par with the world’s only real superpower, Town said.

“The messaging now on the summit is more ‘We have to have a summit,’” she said, adding that none of the groundwork for a meaningful deal — such as even understanding precisely how many nuclear weapons and how much nuclear material North Korea possesses — has been completed. “That’s the risk we run now, having the show for the sake of the show. This isn’t normal diplomacy.”

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