Trump-Kim summit this year looks increasingly unlikely

A Trump-Kim summit before the end of 2026 is looking increasingly unlikely, according to five people familiar with the matter, as North Korea has not responded to Washington’s outreach and preparations have shown little progress. The potential meeting could have taken place around November’s regional gatherings, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, scheduled for November 18-19. But time is running short, and a South Korean official familiar with the matter said Pyongyang had made no move indicating it was preparing for a meeting. The account of no response and limited progress comes from people briefed on private discussions, rather than a public statement from North Korea. President Donald Trump said Monday that he was unsure whether anyone was seeking a meeting. A White House official said Trump remained open to talks with Kim Jong Un without preconditions, but that no meeting had been scheduled and there was no announcement to make. South Korea’s intelligence agency told lawmakers in late September that there was a 50% chance of a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit. Ankit Panda, a senior fellow in the Nuclear Policy Program at...