JAPAN/NORTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump disclosed on Tuesday [4-17-18] that the United States is having direct talks at ‘extremely high levels’ with Pyongyang to try to set up a summit between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump made the acknowledgement during a picture-taking session with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as they opened two days of talks at the president’s Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, which is to include a round of golf. Abe obtained an agreement from Trump to bring up the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea during any summit. Trump said U.S. officials are looking at five different locations for a late-May or early-June meeting with Kim. Asked if any of those were in the United States, Trump said ‘no’. He did not identify who on the U.S. side was talking to the North Koreans.”
–Steve Holland, “Trump says U.S. having direct talks with North Korea about summit,” Reuters, April 16, 2018 10:05 pm