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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (CNN) — President Donald Trump told reporters that five locations are being considered for the widely anticipated meeting between him and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump opened up his Florida estate to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday for a summit both men hope can smooth over differences on North Korea and trade, after which Trump told reporters about the five possible venues for the Kim meeting. Trump didn't give any additional details, except he shook his head "no" when asked if any of the places being considered were in the US, a pool reporter said.
Trump also told reporters that the US has started direct talks with North Korea "at extremely high levels."
"We've also started talking to North Korea directly," Trump said. "We have had direct talks at very high levels, extremely high levels with North Korea. And I really believe there's a lot of good will, a lot of good things are happening. We'll see what happens, as I always say, we'll see what happens. And because ultimately it is the end result that counts, not the fact that we're thinking about having a meeting or having a meeting."
It's the second time Trump has welcomed Abe to Mar-a-Lago, and the two men plan to "sneak out," as Trump put it to reporters, for a round of golf Wednesday.
In February last year, the two men conferred on the dining patio after Kim had ordered the test launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile. Fourteen months later, Trump is preparing for talks with Kim, leaving Abe feeling sidelined.
Japanese officials have signaled Abe will raise his concerns about direct talks during his two-day summit with Trump. White House aides say Trump will take those concerns into serious consideration as he prepares for the historic talks with Kim.
But there is little to suggest Trump will be deterred from holding the meeting with North Korea's leader, which is expected by late May or early June.
Trump also gave Abe his "blessing to discuss the end of the war," while at the photo op with him on Tuesday.
"South Korea is meeting and has plans to meet to see if they can end the war and they have my blessing on that," he said.
"I am in Florida and looking forward to my meeting with Prime Minister Abe of Japan. Working on Trade and Military Security," Trump tweeted on Tuesday morning.
Trump and Abe's Tuesday afternoon meeting was set to be focused intently on North Korea before a formal welcoming ceremony on the Mar-a-Lago lawn. Later, the two men and their wives will dine together. The talks will continue on Wednesday, expanding to include trade issues, before a news conference and another joint dinner.
It amounts to hours of face time for Abe, who is the foreign leader Trump has met and spoken with the most since entering office last year. The Japanese leader has focused on fostering the relationship, including orchestrating multiple rounds of golf and ordering up white ball caps emblazoned with the words: "Donald & Shinzo: Make Alliance Even Greater."
But even those efforts haven't prevented new levels of tension from arising. Like much of the world, Japan was caught off-guard by Trump's on-the-spot acceptance of an invitation for talks with Kim. As other Asian leaders like China's Xi Jinping and South Korea's Moon Jae-in meet with Kim, Abe has been left out.
He's expected to press the importance of ensuring Japanese safety in his talks with Trump, particularly stressing the need to end test launches of intermediate range missiles, some of which have landed in the waters off Japan.
"They've conferred extremely closely," said Matt Pottinger, the top Asia official on Trump's National Security Council, during a Tuesday briefing. "Prime Minister Abe and the President are going to want to exchange views in advance of a summit with the North Korean leader so that we make sure Japanese and American interests are both fully accounted for."
Aside from differences over North Korea, Trump has taken harsh new measures on trade that are expected to come up during the two leaders' meetings. Japan was the only major US ally not to be exempted from Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. US officials said they expected Abe to lobby for an exemption during talks on Wednesday.
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