Trump’s Bid for Kim Jong Un Meeting Falters as North Korea Strengthens Ties with Russia and China

Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s hopes of rekindling his once high-profile diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appear to have fallen flat, as Pyongyang shows little interest in reviving talks and instead deepens its alliances with Russia and China.

During his recent tour of Asia, Trump signaled he was “100 percent open” to meeting Kim, even describing North Korea as “sort of a nuclear power” — a rare acknowledgment that broke with decades of U.S. policy. Despite the overtures, North Korea remained silent and instead fired missiles while dispatching its foreign minister, Choe Son Hui, to Russia and Belarus to bolster regional ties.

Analysts say Kim had no motivation to engage. “The brutal reality is that Kim Jong Un had no incentive to participate,” said Seong-Hyon Lee, a visiting scholar at Harvard University’s Asia Center. “It was a fundamental miscalculation by Washington to believe he would.”

Lee added that Trump’s outreach ultimately served North Korea’s interests, giving Kim an image of legitimacy on the global stage. “President Trump gave Kim a massive, unearned concession,” he said.

Trump and Kim last met in 2019 at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, following a surprise Twitter invitation from Trump. That encounter came months after their Hanoi summit collapsed over disagreements about sanctions relief and denuclearization. Since then, North Korea has declared itself an “irreversible” nuclear state and has drawn closer to Moscow, sending troops to assist Russia in its war against Ukraine.

Soo Kim, a former CIA analyst, said the North Korean leader now enjoys a stronger strategic position. “Russia’s backing is one of the most decisive factors strengthening North Korea’s hand these days,” she told AFP. “He maintains the upper hand, which makes it easier for him to pass on Trump’s invitation.”

Trump later downplayed the missed meeting, saying he had been “too busy” during his trip but did not rule out a future encounter. Still, experts say Kim has little reason to reengage.

According to Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean Studies at the University of Oslo, Pyongyang remains wary after the failure of previous talks. “They don’t want to venture forward too rushingly,” he said, noting that Kim may be holding out for more concrete offers — such as sanctions relief or formal diplomatic recognition — before agreeing to meet.

In the meantime, Pyongyang’s growing ties with Russia and China have reduced its dependence on the U.S. North Korea is reportedly receiving military technology, energy aid, and food supplies from Moscow, while trade with Beijing has surged to its highest level in nearly six years.

Last month, Kim appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a military parade in Beijing — a symbolic show of his expanding influence.

“Kim now has no reason to trade this new, high-status quo for a photo-op with Trump,” said Lee. “He has strategic lifelines from Russia and China and sees U.S.-China rivalry as a long-term guarantee of his maneuverability.”

With powerful allies and a strengthened nuclear position, analysts say Kim is operating from a clear position of strength — leaving little incentive to revisit the stalled diplomacy of years past.