President Donald Trump is mere hours away from his second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They’re meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, to continue talks over ending North Korea’s nuclear program.
How to watch the Trump-Kim summit in Vietnam
Here’s the start time and schedule for one of the biggest diplomatic moments of the year.
As of now, it appears the two leaders may sign a peace declaration symbolically ending the Korean War, and agree to a deal in which the US lifts some sanctions on North Korea in exchange for a commitment from Kim to close down a key nuclear facility.
But that deal is not finalized and could change substantially over the coming days. The world will only know what the two leaders have formally agreed to after the two-day summit — which could possibly extend into a third day — officially ends.
It’ll take a while to get there. Their schedule is packed: On Wednesday, there’s a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Kim, followed by a “social dinner” that will include both leaders as well as each man’s two top advisers.
It’s unclear as of now what the Thursday schedule will look like as the White House has yet to release it, but it’s sure to involve a lot of diplomatic meetings between the two sides.
The summit starts in earnest on Wednesday, February 27, at 6:30 pm Vietnam time. Vietnam’s time zone is exactly 12 hours ahead of Washington, DC — which means if you’re on the East Coast, the summit will kick off on Wednesday at 6:30 am.
Starting at 9pm Washington, DC time, Trump will meet privately with Kim again. He’ll then enter a large meeting including top aides from both countries, followed by a working lunch. Around 2 am, Trump and Kim will sign an agreement and then there will be a press conference shortly afterward.
Given what a huge event this is, at least some Americans will probably want to watch the spectacle. So here’s what we know so far about the schedule for the summit, according to the White House, and how you can watch if you feel like skipping a bit of sleep.
When is the summit?
(Times given are local Vietnam time/Eastern Standard Time):
How to watch:
The White House will carry public parts of the summitry. However, there are thousands of reporters in Hanoi to cover the event, so you can be sure that every cable news channel will have wall-to-wall coverage.
You can follow all of Vox’s coverage of the summit here.
