by Bob Woodward
Congress had initially appropriated $250 million for the Pentagon to provide security assistance to Ukraine, which was in a border dispute with Russia over the annexation of Crimea. On June 19, Trump personally asked about plans for the assistance—a highly unusual request from Trump, who rarely paid attention to such small details. On July 12, Trump directed a hold on the military support funding. And on July 25, a formal hold was placed on the funds.
Earlier that day, Trump had spoken by phone with recently elected Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
In the call, a transcript of which Trump later ordered released, he asked Zelensky to talk with Attorney General Barr and the president’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, about an investigation of the Bidens.
* * *
Three days after the call, Sunday, July 28, was golf day. Trump played 18 holes in the morning at his Trump National Club in Northern Virginia. It was a sweltering midsummer day.
After playing, he stopped in the clubhouse and ran into Dan Coats and his wife, Marsha. Members of the club, they were having lunch before a scheduled tee time later in the afternoon.
Trump seemed taken aback, although he knew they were members. Marsha, a trained psychologist, had a feeling something was going on. The look on Trump’s face was one of guilt and dismay, she thought.
Surprise, thought Dan Coats.
About an hour later, the Coatses were playing the long, straight 508-yard, par-four fourth hole, when a member of Coats’s security team came running up. Your chief of staff, Viraj Mirani, wants to talk to you.
The New York Times just released a story saying that Trump has replaced you, Mirani told Coats.
On the sixth hole—a 583-yard, par-five—Coats read Trump’s 4:45 p.m. tweet: “I am pleased to announce that highly respected Congressman John Ratcliffe of Texas will be nominated by me to be the Director of National Intelligence… Dan Coats, the current director, will be leaving office on August 15th. I would like to thank Dan for his great service to our Country.”
Coats and Trump had never set a date for his departure. Coats had hoped to stay until September to wrap up some pending decisions. Where did August 15 come from, he wondered.
Later, when it became public that a whistleblower in the intelligence community was alleging improper conduct by Trump, Marsha Coats concluded that Trump or someone around him didn’t want her husband to be the one to receive the report. She believed Trump wanted Coats out because he would have turned the whistleblower report over to Congress rather than protect the president.
Ratcliffe was an ardent Trump supporter, but was forced to drop out following news reports that he had exaggerated his role prosecuting terrorism cases as a U.S. attorney. Trump eventually renominated Ratcliffe, who was confirmed and assumed office in 2020. The whistleblower report was eventually made public.
The linkage between the withheld aid, which in the end totaled about $400 million, and Trump’s request for an investigation into the Bidens ultimately led the House of Representatives to impeach Trump.
TWENTY-FIVE
Following their June 2018 Singapore summit, the correspondence between Kim and Trump increased in both frequency and affection.
“I just have arrived back in America, and the media for North Korea and you has been fantastic,” Trump wrote to Kim on June 15. “They have great respect for you and your country.”
Trump followed with a letter on July 3 urging Kim to work with Pompeo, who would visit North Korea to make progress on three objectives: First, returning prisoner-of-war remains. Second, allowing technical experts to visit a missile test site Kim agreed to shut down.
“Third and most importantly,” Trump wrote, “Secretary Pompeo is under my instructions to find agreement with you on taking the first major steps toward the final, fully verified denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and toward a more peaceful future between us.”
Kim did not discuss specifics when he wrote back on July 6.
“The significant first meeting with Your Excellency and the joint statement that we signed together in Singapore 24 days ago was indeed the start of a meaningful journey,” Kim wrote. “Wishing that the invariable trust and confidence in Your Excellency Mr. President will be further strengthened in the future process of taking practical actions, I extend my conviction with the epochal progress in promoting the DPRK-US relations will bring our next meeting forward.” DPRK stood for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the formal name of North Korea.
In letters over the months that followed, Kim and Trump heaped praise upon one another while gently underscoring the demands each had made in the Singapore negotiations.
Both leaders said they hoped to broker an official end to the Korean War because hostilities only ceased under the terms of the 1953 armistice. Technically, they were still at war.
On July 30, Kim wrote: “I feel pleased to have formed good ties with such a powerful and preeminent statesman as Your Excellency, though there is a sense of regret for the lack of anticipated declaration on the termination of war.”
Trump replied on August 2: “It is now time to make progress on the other commitments we made, including complete denuclearization.”
“If our historic meeting two months ago signaled a new beginning to the DPRK-US relationship,” Kim replied August 12, “my next meeting with you will be an opportunity to plan for a safe and solid future. I’m sure that the effort you and I are putting forth will continue to bring about satisfactory results.”
On September 6, Kim wrote Trump his longest and most specific letter yet and started to put conditions on denuclearization. Historically the U.S. had rejected conditions outright.
“We are willing to take further meaningful steps one at a time in a phased manner, such as the complete shutdown of the Nuclear Weapons Institute or the Satellite Launch District and the irreversible closure of the nuclear materials production facility,” Kim wrote in the September 6 correspondence. “I am deeply convinced that the many miraculous changes that we have brought about this year beyond the imagination of everyone will lead to many more in the future on the basis of the excellent relationship that exists between Your Excellency and myself.”
The two leaders made clear their mutual desire to meet again, often portraying their diplomatic relations as an us-against-the-world effort.
“As I wrote in my previous letter,” Kim wrote on September 21, “my confidence and respect for Your Excellency will never change, though many people are skeptical about the current status and the prospects of the relations between our countries about our ideas of resolving the issue of denuclearization in the future. I, together with Your Excellency, will definitely prove them wrong.”
Trump wrote back in a five-sentence letter on December 24: “I look forward to our next summit and to making real progress on denuclearization and a really bright future for your people under your leadership in the year ahead.”
Then the next day, Christmas, Kim wrote Trump a much longer letter describing their Singapore meeting in almost romantic prose.
“It has been 200 days since the historic DPRK-US summit in Singapore this past June, and the year is now almost coming to an end. Even now I cannot forget that moment of history when I firmly held Your Excellency’s hand at the beautiful and sacred location as the whole world watched with great interest and hope to relive the honor of that day. As I mentioned at that time, I feel very honored to have established an excellent relationship with a person such as Your Excellency.
“As the new year 2019 approaches, critical issues that require endless effort toward even higher ideals and goals still await us. Just as Your Excellency frankly noted, as we enter the new year the whole world will certainly once again come to see, not so far in the future, another historic meeting between myself and Your Excellency reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film.”
When I first read that Kim saw this as “reminiscent of a scene from a fantasy film,” I was shocked.
Trump replied
on December 28: “I just received your letter and very much appreciate your warm feelings and thoughts. Like you, I have no doubt that a great result will be accomplished between our two countries, and that the only two leaders who can do it are you and me.” Trump added that Hanoi or Bangkok would be acceptable locations for their next summit.
Trump wrote again on January 8 to wish Kim a happy birthday. “You will have many great years of celebration and success,” he wrote. “Your country will soon be on a historic and prosperous path.”
On January 17, Kim wrote to introduce a special envoy he was sending to Washington to arrange the next summit. “I would like to believe that while last year was a meaningful one in which we put an end to the longstanding hostile relations between the DPRK and the US and made a commitment to a new future, this will be a more significant year that will see our bilateral relations develop into a new higher stage,” he wrote.
Following envoy Kim Yong Chol’s visit to Washington, the two nations agreed to a second summit between the two leaders in February in Hanoi.
“We are together doing something very historic,” Trump wrote to Kim January 18. “I will see you soon.” Unlike the other letters, which were typed and signed “Sincerely,” this was handwritten in Trump’s black magic marker and signed: “Your friend, Donald J. Trump.”
Trump wrote Kim once more before their Hanoi summit, sending a short note on February 19 along with four pictures of their earlier meeting. “I look forward to seeing you next week,” Trump wrote. “It will be great.”
* * *
On February 27 and 28, 2019, the North Korea–United States summit was held in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The two sides had intended to hold a signing ceremony on the last day, but the meeting fell apart.
Trump and Kim spent two hours together with their respective staffs.
News reports following the abrupt ending said Kim had offered to dismantle the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center—the nation’s major nuclear weapons facility, located in the far north—but he would not go far enough in offering to dismantle other, more active facilities as well. And while Trump was prepared to undo some economic sanctions, the reports said, he was not prepared to fully lift five rounds of sanctions that had been devastating for the North Korean economy.
Trump had his own version of events in Hanoi, as he related to me: Almost from the start, Trump said, he instinctively knew Kim wasn’t ready to get where he needed him to go.
Kim was ready to give up one of his nuclear sites, but he had five.
“Listen, one doesn’t help and two doesn’t help and three doesn’t help and four doesn’t help,” Trump said. “Five does help.”
“But it’s our biggest,” Kim said, referring to the Yongbyon center.
“Yeah, it’s also your oldest,” Trump said. “Because I know every one of the sites. I know all of them, better than any of my people I know them. You understand that.”
Kim would not budge from his position.
“Do you ever do anything other than send rockets up to the air?” Trump asked Kim. “Let’s go to a movie together. Let’s go play a round of golf.”
Finally, the reality set in.
“You’re not ready to make a deal,” Trump said to Kim. “You’re not there.”
“What do you mean?” The look on Kim’s face was utter shock.
“You’re not ready to make a deal,” Trump said. “I’ve got to leave. You’re my friend. I think you’re a wonderful guy. But we’ve got to leave, because you’re not ready to make a deal.”
Trump’s implied message, Pompeo thought, was: Don’t shoot. We’re friends. We can trust each other. We will work it out.
The summit was reported as a failure.
* * *
Letters between Trump and Kim following the Hanoi summit were cordial but infrequent. Their relationship got more attention than progress on denuclearization.
Trump did not write again until three weeks later, on March 22, in a letter in which he pledged permanent friendship. “Thank you again for making this long journey to Hanoi,” he wrote. “As I said to you when we parted ways, you are my friend and always will be.”
On June 10, Kim wrote Trump another letter of verbose flattery.
“Like the brief time we had together a year ago in Singapore, every minute we shared 103 days ago in Hanoi was also a moment of glory that remains a precious memory,” Kim wrote. “Such a precious memory that I have in my unwavering respect for you will provide an impetus for me to take my steps when we walk toward each other again someday in the future.
“I also believe that the deep and special friendship between us will work as a magical force…
“Your Excellency Mr. President, I still respect and lay my hopes on the will and determination that you showed in our first meeting to resolve the issue of our unique style that nobody had ever tried, and to write a new history. Today’s reality is that without a new approach and the courage it takes, the prospects for resolution of the issue will only be bleak.
“I believe the one day will come sooner or later when we sit down together to make great things happen, with the will to give another chance to our mutual trust. Such a day should come again. It may well be recorded as yet another fantastic moment in history.”
Two days later, on June 12, Trump wrote back to say he would like to meet again.
“It is hard to believe that a full year has passed since our historic first meeting in Singapore,” Trump wrote. “It was on that day, one year ago, that you and I made a number of extraordinary commitments to one another—you committed to completely denuclearize, and I committed to provide security guarantees. We both committed to establish new relations for our two countries and to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the Korean peninsula.
“I completely agree with you. You and I have a unique style and a special friendship. Only you and I, working together, can resolve the issues between our two countries and end nearly 70 years of hostility, bringing an era of prosperity to the Korean peninsula that will exceed all our greatest expectations—and you will be the one to lead. It will be historic!”
Using Twitter, Trump proposed the next meeting between the two leaders as spontaneous. While in Japan on June 29 for the G20 summit, Trump tweeted: “If Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!”
The June 29 tweet was followed by a more formal letter later that same day.
“As you may have seen,” Trump wrote, “I am traveling today from Osaka, Japan to the Republic of Korea, and since I will be so close to you, I would like to invite you to meet me at the border tomorrow afternoon. I will be near the DMZ in the afternoon and propose a meeting at 3:30 at the Peace House on the southern side of the military demarcation line. I have no specific agenda for our meeting, but think it would be great to see you again since we will be so close to each other. Hope to see you tomorrow!”
Kim accepted Trump’s invitation.
* * *
On June 30, 2019, Trump and Kim met at the Joint Security Area, a zone of distinctive blue buildings on the border of North Korea and South Korea.
The two leaders faced each other, Trump standing in the gravel on the South Korean side and Kim on the other side of a short concrete slab marking the actual border.
“Would you like me to come in?” Trump asked.
“Yes, I would like you to come in,” Kim replied.
Trump walked over the border of the two countries, marking the first time a U.S. president entered North Korea, and the two leaders walked a few steps into North Korean territory.
After the crossing, the two leaders spoke to each other briefly through interpreters.
“I want to thank you,” Trump said, according to the official White House transcript of the exchange. “Look, I mean, the world is watching, and it’s very important for the world.”
Kim told Trump that he had been surprised by the president�
��s letter the day before proposing a meeting at the border.
“Meeting at such a place shows that we are willing to put an end to the unfortunate past and also open a new future and provide positive opportunities in the future,” Kim said. “If it was not for our excellent relation between the two of us, it would not have been possible to have this kind of opportunity.”
“It was an honor that you asked me to step over that line,” Trump said. “And I was proud to step over the line.”
The event was an international media spectacle, but it achieved no immediate substantive diplomatic outcome. “A Ratings-Minded President Gets the Shot He Wanted,” read a headline in the next day’s Washington Post.
* * *
“Being with you today was truly amazing,” Trump wrote to Kim on June 30. “Even the media, which always likes to say that everything is bad, is giving you accolades for inviting me into your country. They said you demonstrated great foresight and courage in accepting a meeting on such short notice and very public notice. Most importantly I thought our meeting went very well. The potential of your country is truly limitless, and I am confident that incredible prosperity awaits you and your people in the future as we continue to work together.”
Attached to Trump’s June 30 letter was a copy of The New York Times front page, which featured a four-column picture of Trump and Kim. “Chairman, great picture of you, big time,” Trump added in a marker.
Trump wrote again July 2, sending 22 photographs along with his letter. “It was an honor to cross into your country and to resume our important discussion,” Trump wrote. “I have tremendous confidence in our ability to strike a big deal that leads to immense prosperity for you and your people, sheds you of your nuclear burden, and inspires generations to come. These images are great memories for me and capture the unique friendship that you and I have developed.”
