“These things are tightly scripted; they keep the press at arm’s length,” said Washington Post reporter John Hudson, who was in Singapore last week covering the meetings between U.S. and North Korean officials to plan the summit. From the American side, Hudson said he expected the summit would be similar to other foreign trips by the president. “The X-factor,” he added, “of course is going to be North Korea.”
Another X-factor may be the host country. Last Wednesday, Hudson was chased out of a Singapore hotel by security guards after attempting to photograph and interview the officials who were meeting there. In his reporting so far, he said, he has not found any of the three countries particularly helpful.
“For these logistics meetings, there was zero support from any of the U.S., North Korean or Singaporean governments to provide additional access to the press,” Hudson said. He added, though, that he was unsure what that would mean for next week’s planned summit.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member