We Still Don’t Know What’s Up With the North Korea Nuclear Talks

President Donald Trump reportedly loves to live in eternal chaos, and that’s exactly what his administration has created over a possible summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. But one of the differences between chaos on the set of a reality TV show and real life in the White House is, well, nuclear weapons.

Despite Trump’s schoolboy breakup letter to Kim earlier this week, in which the U.S. president explicitly stated that the Singapore summit “will not take place,” there were several signs over the weekend that this may not be the case.

“Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote in the letter on Thursday.

But by Friday night, Trump was sending signals that the letter either may have been a ploy or a mistake. “We are having very productive talks with North Korea about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th., and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date,” he tweeted. He made similar statements to the press earlier in the day, saying, “We’ll see what happens.”

On Saturday, the leaders of both South and North Korea held a surprise meeting at the demilitarized zone between the two countries. According to The Wall Street Journal, the office of South Korean President Moon Jae-in acknowledged the two-hour meeting had taken place after it was over. The two leaders who have the most to win—or lose—with a potential summit likely discussed what a deal on denuclearization might look like, the Associated Press reported.

The same day, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that an advance team from the White House would head to Singapore in case the June 12 meeting moves forward. “The White House pre-advance team for Singapore will leave as scheduled in order to prepare should the summit take place,” she said.

According to Politico, that team will arrive in Japan on May 28 and leave for Singapore the same day.

Whatever the outcome, Trump supporters will probably continue clamoring for him to win a Nobel Prize, and his critics will think he’s a bumbling idiot toying around with nuclear powers as if they were one of his former casinos.

But the big question is what will become of those commemorative coins at the White House gift shop?