--- title: What Kim Told Trump: Read the Leaders' First Exchange description: The North Korean leader reportedly greeted President in English after the two shook hands, saying, "Nice to meet you, Mr. President" canonical: https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-06-12T03:16:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:32:23.655Z article:section: World og:title: Read Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's First Exchange og:description: "Nice to meet you, Mr. President," Kim Jong Un reportedly said in English og:url: https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1213553d60c718/698932d74ee2622609312105/gettyimages-971757350.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-North Korea summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's First Exchange twitter:description: "Nice to meet you, Mr. President," Kim Jong Un reportedly said in English twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1213553d60c718/698932d74ee2622609312105/gettyimages-971757350.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump Said to Each Other When They First Met by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jun 12, 2018 3:16 AM CUT  President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic U.S.-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018. President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) at the start of their historic U.S.-North Korea summit, at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore on June 12, 2018.Ministry Of Communications And Information, Republic Of Singapore/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jun 12, 2018 3:16 AM CUT President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un met Tuesday in Singapore’s Sentosa Island, kicking off a [historic summit](http://time.com/5309069/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-meet-summit/ "undefined") that marked the first time the sitting leaders of North Korea and the U.S. had come face to face. Kim [reportedly](https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-meets-kim-jong-un-singapore-010814105.html "undefined") greeted Trump in English when the two sat down after an introductory [handshake](http://time.com/5309062/donald-trump-kim-jong-jong-un-handshake-singapore/ "undefined"), saying, “Nice to meet you, Mr. President.” Trump and Kim [met one-on-one](http://time.com/5305550/donald-trump-north-korea-kim-jong-un-singapore-summit-what-to-know/ "undefined") for about 40 minutes Tuesday morning with the assistance of translators, the Associated Press reported. Speaking with reporters beforehand, Trump was buoyant about the meeting’s prospects, predicting that the two would share a “tremendously successful” discussion. --- > “” --- The leaders then walked along a balcony in the Capella Hotel on Singapore’s Sentosa Island, the [venue](http://time.com/5307849/singapore-sentosa-kim-jong-un-donald-trump/ "undefined") for the talks. Trump said the discussion was “very, very good” and he and Kim share an “excellent relationship,” according to AP. **Read more:** [_The Kim-Trump Summit Poses a Big Challenge for Interpreters_](http://time.com/5292996/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-interpreters-summit/ "undefined") As Kim and Trump walked down the colonnade to their meeting with their respective delegations, Kim’s interpreter could be heard telling Trump: “Many people in the world will think of this as a (inaudible) form of fantasy … from a science fiction movie,” [according](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2018-06-04/donald-trump-s-summit-in-singapore-with-kim-jong-un "undefined") to translation from Bloomberg. The leaders and delegates then sat down to begin [bilateral talks](http://time.com/5305550/donald-trump-north-korea-kim-jong-un-singapore-summit-what-to-know/ "undefined"). “We will solve a big problem, a big dilemma that until this point has been unable to be solved,” Trump said. “I know that working together we will get it taken care of. Thank you very much.” ## Can Kim Jong Un Speak English? Kim reportedly spoke in English to greet Trump but the extent of his English skills is unknown. The North Korean leader was educated at a boarding school in Switzerland, where he studied English as well as taking instruction in German, although his grades were reportedly [less than stellar](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/02/kim-jong-un-north-korea-understanding "undefined"), according to _Vanity Fair_. At a summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April, South Korean viewers were reportedly [surprised](http://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2143760/hang-what-language-kim-jong-un-speaking "undefined") by Kim’s Swiss-inflected accent. Other South Korean experts believe Kim’s command of English to be [significantly stronger](https://www.upi.com/Report-Kim-may-speak-English-in-summit-with-Trump/6221520997460/ "undefined"), according to UPI, suggesting that he could choose to use English to help smooth communication at the outset of the tense summit with Trump. But Kim also relied on translators when he met Dennis Rodman in 2014, but relayed few messages in English to the former basketball player, according to _Vanity Fair_. Kim’s use of translators [revealed](http://time.com/5292996/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-interpreters-summit/ "undefined") “a certain level of discomfort,” Dr. Lonnie Edge, assistant professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies’ Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation told TIME So the [pressure will be on](http://time.com/5292996/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-interpreters-summit/ "undefined") for Trump and Kim’s translators on Tuesday, when the leaders, each prone to [colorful language](http://time.com/4953283/kim-jong-un-donald-trump-insults/ "undefined"), finally sit down [face-to-face](http://time.com/5309062/donald-trump-kim-jong-jong-un-handshake-singapore/ "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/"},"headline":"What Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump Said to Each Other When They First Met","datePublished":"2018-06-12T03:16:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:32:23.655Z","description":"\"Nice to meet you, Mr. President,\" Kim Jong Un reportedly said in English","url":"https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/","keywords":["North Korea","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1213553d60c718/698932d74ee2622609312105/gettyimages-971757350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc1213553d60c718/698932d74ee2622609312105/gettyimages-971757350.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-North Korea summit","caption":"US-North Korea summit","creditText":"Ministry Of Communications And Information, Republic Of Singapore/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/north-korea/","name":"North Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5309116/kim-jong-un-trump-summit-language-english/","name":"What Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump Said to Each Other When They First Met"}}]}] ```