U. S. President Donald Trump gestures toward the meeting site with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un at the Capella resort on Sentosa Island Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Singapore. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (Associated Press) 
 
 SINGAPORE (AP) — The Latest on the summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in Singapore (all times local): 
 
 9:55 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says that his one-on-one meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "very, very good" and that the two have an "excellent relationship." 
 
 Trump and Kim met for about 40 minutes Tuesday one-on-one, joined only by interpreters. 
 
 Trump made the comments as he and Kim walked together along balcony as they headed to a larger meeting with aides. 
 
 Trump was flanked in the larger meeting by chief of staff John Kelly, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national security adviser John Bolton. They sat across the table from Kim and his team. 
 
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 9:20 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is predicting that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have "a terrific relationship" as they meet face to face for the first time. 
 
 Trump said Tuesday after meeting Kim that he's feeling "really great." He says, "We're going to have a great discussion and a terrific relationship." 
 
 Kim says through an interpreter that it "was not easy to get here" and that there "were obstacles but we overcame them to be here." 
 
 The two men are expected to meet on their own for the better part of an hour, with only a pair of interpreters in the room. 
 
 That decision has raised concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness. 
 
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 9:05 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are sharing a historic handshake as they meet for the first time. 
 
 The two clasped hands for a long while Tuesday as they posed for photos in front of a row of U.S. and North Korean flags. Trump then directed Kim to walk down a hallway, where they briefly spoke. 
 
 It's the first ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader. 
 
 Trump and Kim arrived not long ago on Singapore's Sentosa Island, the site of their unprecedented summit. It's aimed at settling a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear arsenal. 
 
 The two will huddle alone for roughly 45 minutes before being joined by aides for a larger meeting and working lunch. 
 
 Trump has said he'll know within minutes whether a deal can be made. 
 
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 8:35 a.m. 
 
 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has arrived at Singapore's Sentosa Island, where he'll be meeting shortly face-to-face with President Donald Trump. 
 
 The two men are expected to share a handshake before they meet alone with a pair of interpreters for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. 
 
 After the intimate huddle, they're scheduled to hold a larger meeting and working lunch. Trump's chief of staff, national security adviser and secretary of state are among those expected to join. 
 
 The meeting is the first sit-down between a sitting U.S. president and North Korean leader and is meant to settle a standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear program. 
 
 Trump earlier defended his decision to meet with Kim, tweeting that North Korea has already released three detainees and that missile tests have halted. 
 
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 8:20 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump has arrived on Singapore's Sentosa Island for his historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 Trump's motorcade pulled into the grounds of the Capella Hotel at 8:13 a.m. Tuesday local time. 
 
 He is scheduled to meet Kim for the first time at 9 a.m. 
 
 Kim is also en route to Sentosa Island for the meeting to discuss the fate of his country's nuclear weapons arsenal. 
 
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 8:15 a.m. 
 
 Kim Jong Un's entourage has left for the luxury Singapore island resort where the North Korean leader will meet with President Donald Trump. 
 
 Kim's black armored limousine with two large North Korean flags was surrounded Tuesday by police vehicles, their lights flashing, and other black cars. 
 
 There's excitement surrounding the summit but also skepticism that the North will relinquish a nuclear weapons program it spent decades building despite crushing sanctions. 
 
 Kim and Trump are scheduled to meet alone, with their interpreters, after greeting each other at the resort. 
 
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 7:50 a.m. 
 
 North Korea's state media has reported on Kim Jong Un's late-night tour of Singapore with unusual speed. 
 
 Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun on Tuesday filled its front page with photos of his visits to Singapore's landmarks, including the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay and the Marina Bay Sands resort. 
 
 The North's Korean Central News Agency quoted Kim as saying that Singapore is "clean and beautiful and every building is stylish" and that he will learn "a lot from the good knowledge and experience of Singapore in various fields in the future." 
 
 It's rare that security-obsessed North Korea reports on Kim's activities within hours. When Kim visited China for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping in March and May, state media didn't report on the trips until after he returned home. 
 
 Some experts say North Korea is trying to keep up with the speed of the Western media in Singapore. 
 
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 7:05 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump is sitting down with Fox News host Sean Hannity after his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 Fox News says the interview will take place Tuesday at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa Island in Singapore. Trump and Kim are set to meet on Sentosa Island on Tuesday morning for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. 
 
 The interview is set to air on Fox's "Hannity" at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast, which is 9 a.m. Wednesday in Singapore. 
 
 Fox News says Trump will talk about the meeting with Kim and future relations between the two countries. 
 
 Hannity is a friend and confidant of the president and speaks out in support of Trump on his show. 
 
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 6:20 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says the "haters & losers" are complaining that his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong Un is a "major loss," but he notes that the U.S. has gotten its three captives returned and that the North's nuclear missile launches have stopped. 
 
 Trump tweeted early Tuesday from Singapore, just hours before his face-to-face with Kim. 
 
 He says, "The fact that I am having a meeting is a major loss for the U.S., say the haters & losers." But he says "our hostages" are back home and testing, research and launches have stopped. 
 
 He says, "These pundits, who have called me wrong from the beginning, have nothing else they can say!" 
 
 Critics have argued that Kim has notched a win by getting a sit-down with the U.S. president. 
 
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 5:30 a.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump says "we will all know soon" whether he can reach a deal with North Korea's Kim Jong Un to end its nuclear program. 
 
 Trump is tweeting hours before the leaders' historic face-to-face that, "Meetings between staffs and representatives are going well and quickly." 
 
 But he says that, "in the end, that doesn't matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!" 
 
 Before leaving Washington for Singapore, Trump said his gut instincts will guide him when he gets into the room with Kim. 
 
 He told reporters he'll know almost immediately whether a deal can be made, saying: "I will know, just my touch, my feel. That's what I do." 
 
 Their meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Singapore time. 
 
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 4 a.m. 
 
 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says the U.S. has picked up no indications that North Korea's military is in a heightened state of alert in the run-up to the Singapore summit. 
 
 Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon on Monday that "All's quiet" in North Korea. 
 
 Mattis is declining to discuss his expectations for President Donald Trump's meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. 
 
 He says he does not expect it to include a negotiation over reducing the number of U.S. troops in South Korea — currently about 28,000. He says that, at least initially, this is a matter between Washington and Seoul. 
 
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 1:45 a.m. 
 
 For better part of an hour, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will square off one on one, alone but for a pair of translators. That's raising concerns about the risk of holding such a monumental meeting with barely anyone to bear witness. 
 
 Trump and Kim will meet on Singapore's Sentosa Island for roughly 45 minutes while their entourages wait nearby. 
 
 The huddle will come before a larger meeting and a working lunch attended by top advisers to the president and their North Korean counterparts. 
 
 Word of the private meeting unleashed a torrent of criticism on social media from national security veterans who worry the lack of a transcript will create a he-said-he-said showdown that could turn into a major headache for Trump. 
 
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 12:40 a.m. 
 
 Former NBA star Dennis Rodman has arrived in Singapore, hours before President Donald Trump is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the first time. 
 
 Rodman emerged from the baggage claim area at Changi airport around midnight Monday. He told reporters he wasn't sure if he would meet Kim in Singapore. 
 
 Last week, Rodman said he would "give whatever support is needed" to his "friends" Trump and Kim. 
 
 White House officials have said Rodman will play no official role in the diplomatic negotiations. Trump said last week that Rodman had not been invited to the summit. 
 
 He is one of the few westerners to have met the North Korean leader on visits to the capital city Pyongyang. 
 
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 11:30 p.m. 
 
 United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to seize the opportunity "to support a peaceful, prosperous, secure and verifiably denuclearized Korean Peninsula." 
 
 The U.N. chief is commending the two leaders for pursuing a diplomatic solution and "seeking to break out of the dangerous cycle that created so much concern last year." 
 
 Guterres told reporters Monday ahead of the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore that "peace and verifiable denuclearization must remain the clear and shared goal." 
 
 The secretary-general says he wrote to both leaders last month saying "the road ahead will require cooperation, compromise and a common cause." 
 
 He says the U.N. system "stands ready to support this process in every way, including verification if requested by both parties." 
 
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 11:15 p.m. 
 
 Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry is warning that if President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fail to reach a deal at their Singapore summit, there's an increased danger for a "catastrophic" military solution. 
 
 Perry says, "If it falls apart, it's probably worse than as if we ever started." 
 
 Perry says he's hopeful the two leaders will discuss normalization of ties as well as denuclearization to improve the prospect for long-term success of any deal. 
 
 He spoke Monday to The Associated Press at a Luxembourg Forum Conference on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe event in Geneva. 
 
 Perry also served as President Bill Clinton's special envoy to North Korea and traveled there in 1999 to discuss its nuclear and missile programs. 
 
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 11 p.m. 
 
 The White House says President Donald Trump plans to visit U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii on the return from his historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un. 
 
 Trump is expected to depart Singapore on Tuesday night after his meeting with Kim on Sentosa Island. Before leaving Singapore, the president is scheduled to address the media. 
 
 The White House says the president will stop at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam on Tuesday and also travel to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii later in the day. 
 
 The president visited the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor last November on his way to Asia. 
 
 Trump is expected to return to the White House on Wednesday morning. 
 
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 10:30 p.m. 
 
 France's Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian (le dree-AHN) says he will be the first one to applaud U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un if they reach a deal on nuclear weapons disarmament of the Korean Peninsula. 
 
 Le Drian says that "everything that has to do with disarmament is positive." 
 
 The French foreign minister met Monday with his Swedish counterpart Margot Wallstrom in Stockholm. Le Drian cautions "we have been enthusiastic before and it has led to failures." 
 
 Wallstrom hosted talks in March with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho in Stockholm. She says one should be prepared for both "a fruitful meeting and a failure." 
 
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 9:55 p.m. 
 
 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is out of his luxurious hotel for a late-night city tour hours ahead of his summit with President Donald Trump. 
 
 Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan (Bal-a-krish-nan) says Kim went to the Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore on Monday night. 
 
 The foreign minister posted a photo showing him with Kim at the place on Facebook. 
 
 South Korean media says Kim went there with his sister Kim Yo Jong and other top deputies. 
 
 Kim is meeting Trump on Tuesday for a historic summit aimed at discussing the future of his nuclear program. 
 
 It would be the first summit between a sitting U.S. president and a North Korean leader. 
 
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 8:20 p.m. 
 
 The White House says in a statement ahead of President Donald Trump's historic summit with North Korea's Kim Jong Un that the talks with North Korea are moving "more quickly than expected." The White House says Trump now plans to depart Singapore on Tuesday evening ahead of schedule. 
 
 The White House says Trump will address the media on Tuesday following his summit with Kim and depart Singapore at approximately 8 p.m. local time for the United States. The president had been expected to leave Singapore on Wednesday morning. 
 
 Trump is set to meet with Kim in Singapore on Tuesday morning. 
 
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 7:30 p.m. 
 
 Seoul says President Donald Trump talked with South Korean President Moon Jae-in (jah-YIHN') about his upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and expressed optimism for a diplomatic breakthrough. 
 
 South Korea's presidential office says Trump filled Moon on the details of the pre-summit negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. The Blue House didn't elaborate on what Moon was told during the 40 minute telephone call. 
 
 The Blue House says Moon told him South Koreans will be praying for a "miraculous result." 
 
 Moon said earlier he hopes the summit will be a "historic milestone" for peace but it will only be the first step in a complex and lengthy process. Moon says the hostility "cannot be solved at once by a single meeting between the leaders." 
 
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 6:25 p.m. 
 
 Iran says North Korea should be wary of negotiating with President Donald Trump following his withdrawal from the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement. 
 
 Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said Monday that North Korea should approach this week's summit with Trump with "awareness." He says Iran views Trump and the United States with "great pessimism," saying they are known for "quitting treaties and violating their commitments." 
 
 Trump withdrew the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which the Obama administration had reached with Iran, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia. The agreement required Iran to curb its uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from international sanctions. 
 
 Trump has announced the restoration of U.S. sanctions, while European leaders are trying to preserve the deal. 
 
 The U.S. president is set to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on Tuesday. 
 
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 6:15 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump has accepted an invitation to return to Singapore for a state visit this fall. 
 
 That's according to Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 Trump is expected to travel to Asia in November in conjunction with a pair of regional summits. 
 
 The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the president's fall plans. 
 
 A White House read-out of Trump's meetings with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (lee haz-ee-en lahng) Monday did not include mention of a state visit. 
 
 Singapore will be hosting Trump's summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
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 6 p.m. 
 
 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the United States is prepared to take actions to provide North Korea with "sufficient certainty" that denuclearization "is not something that ends badly for them." 
 
 Pompeo is briefing reporters in Singapore ahead of President Donald Trump's summit Tuesday with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He says the U.S. is prepared to show North Korea that rather than denuclearization posing a threat to North Korea, it's "the opposite." 
 
 Pompeo won't say whether Trump would consider withdrawing U.S. troops from the Korean Peninsula. 
 
 Pompeo says that U.S. sanctions on the North will remain in place until the North denuclearizes. But he says if diplomacy fails to move in the right direction, the sanctions "will increase." 
 
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 5:50 p.m. 
 
 President Donald Trump called the leaders of South Korea and Japan Monday ahead of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. 
 
 That's according to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is briefing reporters in Singapore. He says Trump spoke by phone with the two U.S. allies as preparatory talks continue between American and North Korean officials ahead of the leader sit-down Tuesday morning. 
 
 Pompeo says there is "enormous potential" for the summit, but lowered expectations that the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula will happen after one meeting. He says: "We are hopeful the summit will have set the conditions for future productive talks." 
 
 Pompeo also says Tuesday's meeting presents a test of Kim's willingness to agree to deal his nuclear weapons away for "protections" from the United States. ||||| SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore could “work out very nicely” as officials from both countries sought to narrow differences on how to end a nuclear stand-off on the Korean peninsula. 
 
 Kim, one of the world’s most reclusive leaders, made an evening tour of sites on Singapore’s waterfront, on the eve of the summit due to start on Tuesday at a nearby resort island. 
 
 In a tweet early on Tuesday, just hours before the summit, Trump said staff-level meetings between the countries were “going well and quickly ... but in the end, that doesn’t matter. We will all know soon whether or not a real deal, unlike those of the past, can happen!” 
 
 While Trump was optimistic about prospects for the summit between the old foes, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo injected a note of caution ahead of the first-ever meeting of sitting U.S. and North Korean leaders, saying it remained to be seen whether Kim was sincere about his willingness to denuclearize. 
 
 Officials from the two sides held last-minute talks aimed at laying the groundwork for a meeting that was almost unthinkable just months ago when the two leaders were exchanging insults and threats that raised fears of war. 
 
 But after a flurry of diplomatic overtures eased tension in recent months, the two leaders are now headed for a history-making handshake that U.S. officials hope could eventually lead to the dismantling of a North Korean nuclear program that threatens the United States. 
 
 Offering a preview to reporters, Pompeo said it could provide “an unprecedented opportunity to change the trajectory of our relationship and bring peace and prosperity” to North Korea. 
 
 However, he played down the possibility of a quick breakthrough and said the summit should set the framework for “the hard work that will follow”, insisting that North Korea had to move toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. 
 
 North Korea, though, has shown little appetite for surrendering nuclear weapons it considers vital to the survival of Kim’s dynastic rule. 
 
 Sanctions on North Korea would remain in place until that had happened, Pompeo said. “If diplomacy does not move in the right direction ... those measures will increase.” 
 
 “North Korea has previously confirmed to us its willingness to denuclearize and we are eager to see if those words prove sincere,” he said. 
 
 The White House later said discussions with North Korea had moved “more quickly than expected” and Trump would leave Singapore on Tuesday night, after the summit. He had earlier been scheduled to leave on Wednesday. 
 
 Kim is due to leave on Tuesday afternoon, a source involved in the planning of his visit said on Sunday. 
 
 Kim was not believed to have left his hotel since a meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong soon after his arrival in the city on Sunday, but he ventured out on Monday evening. 
 
 The Swiss-educated leader, who is believed to be 34, has not left his isolated country since taking office in 2011 other than to visit China and the South Korean side of the border Demilitarized Zone, which separates the two Koreas. 
 
 His first stop was a waterfront park with futuristic installations, Gardens by the Bay, which boasts the largest glass greenhouse and tallest indoor waterfall in the world. 
 
 He joined Singapore’s foreign minister, Vivian Balakrishnan, who took a selfie, before stopping at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, which resembles a giant surfboard perched on three tall columns, for a look out over the bright lights of the city from its rooftop garden and swimming pool. 
 
 On the way back to his hotel, Kim walked along a promenade near the Merlion, a giant statue, and fountain, of a mythical creature, half-lion, half-fish - Singapore’s unofficial mascot. 
 
 The rare public appearance of Kim, waving and smiling to onlookers, adds to the more affable image of the young leader that has emerged since his summit in April with South Korean leader Moon Jae-in. 
 
 Just a few months ago, Kim was an international pariah accused of ordering the killing of his uncle, a half-brother and scores of officials suspected of disloyalty. 
 
 Former U.S. National Basketball Association star Dennis Rodman arrived in Singapore late on Monday for the summit, saying he was “excited to be part of it”, although there has been no indication he would be involved in any official talks. 
 
 “It should go fairly well, but people should not expect so much for the first time,” Rodman told reporters at the airport. 
 
 “The doors are opening.” 
 
 ‘INTERESTING MEETING’ 
 
 Trump arrived in Singapore on Sunday after a blow-up over trade with other members of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations that cast a cloud over his efforts to score a major foreign policy win in the nuclear talks. 
 
 Although gaps remain over what denuclearization would entail, Trump sounded a positive note in a lunch meeting with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee. 
 
 “We’ve got a very interesting meeting ... tomorrow, and I just think it’s going to work out very nicely,” Trump said. 
 
 Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Singapore's Education Minister Ong Ye Kung pose for a photo in Singapore June 11, 2018, in this photo obtained from social media. MANDATORY CREDIT. Vivian Balakrishnan's Twitter page/via REUTERS 
 
 It was a far cry from last year when Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury” and mocked Kim as “little rocket man,” and Kim denounced the U.S. president as the “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.” 
 
 Trump and Kim are staying in separate hotels less that a kilometer apart in the famous Orchard Road area of Singapore, dotted with high-rise luxury apartment blocks, offices and glittering shopping malls. 
 
 Commenting for the first time on the summit, North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said the two sides would exchange “wide-ranging and profound views” to re-set relations. It heralded the summit as part of a “changed era”. 
 
 Discussions would focus on “the issue of building a permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism on the Korean peninsula, the issue of realizing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and other issues of mutual concern”, KCNA said. 
 
 In the lead up to the summit, North Korea rejected any unilateral nuclear disarmament, and KCNA’s reference to denuclearization of the peninsula has historically meant it wants the United States to remove its “nuclear umbrella” protecting South Korea and Japan. 
 
 RISK 
 
 The White House said Trump would hold a one-on-one meeting with Kim on Tuesday on the small island of Sentosa. The two will later be joined by officials and have lunch together. 
 
 Many experts on North Korea, one of the most insular and unpredictable countries in the world, remain skeptical Kim will ever completely abandon nuclear weapons. They believe Kim’s engagement is aimed at getting the United States to ease the crippling sanctions that have squeezed the impoverished country. 
 
 Kelsey Davenport, director for Nonproliferation Policy at the Arms Control Association, said there were signs that the gaps between the two sides were narrowing but there was also risk. 
 
 “Trump is likely to declare the summit a victory irrespective of the outcome, but if the two sides fail to reach a common understanding of denuclearization it will put at risk any process that the summit kicks off,” he said. 
 
 “The process could be doomed before it begins.” 
 
 Trump initially touted the potential for a grand bargain with North Korea to rid itself of a nuclear missile program that has advanced rapidly to threaten the United States. 
 
 But he has since lowered expectations, backing away from an original demand for North Korea’s swift denuclearization. 
 
 He has said the talks would be more about starting a relationship with Kim for a negotiating process that would take more than one summit. 
 
 Slideshow (25 Images)
– The big summit is just hours away now, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is downplaying expectations of a huge breakthrough when President Trump and Kim Jong Un meet face to face. Their meeting "will set the framework for the hard work that will follow,” said Pompeo, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “We’ll see how far we get." Pompeo reiterated that the US will not ease sanctions against North Korea for anything less than complete denuclearization. Coverage: The meeting: Trump and Kim will meet at 9pm Eastern on Singapore's Sentosa Island (that's 9am Tuesday in Singapore), shake hands, take a ceremonial walk, and then go behind closed doors for their meeting. It will be just the two of them and their interpreters, reports the Washington Post. No timetable is set on how long the session will last, but the White House has set aside two hours. Change of schedule: Kim took in some of the sights in Singapore Monday evening and was seen waving and smiling to onlookers, reports Reuters. President Trump, meanwhile, told reporters he is confident the summit is "going to work out quite nicely." Trump will head back to Washington Tuesday evening instead of Wednesday morning as originally scheduled, because talks are moving "more quickly than expected," per a White House statement. It didn't elaborate on what that meant.