News

John Oliver Is Totally Bewildered By How Trump's "Preparing" For The North Korea Summit

by Sarah Friedmann
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver/HBO

President Donald Trump's historic summit with North Korea is rapidly approaching — something which didn't go unnoticed on Sunday's episode of Last Week Tonight. On the show, host John Oliver mocked Trump's North Korea summit preparation strategy, taking the president to task for his overly casual and "upsetting" approach to the massively consequential meeting.

Oliver opened his show by discussing what he believes is Trump's utter lack of preparation for the summit. The host first played a clip of Trump discussing his preparation strategy, in which the president stated, "... I don't think I have to prepare very much. It's about attitude, it's about willingness to get things done."

The late night host appeared flabbergasted by Trump's comments, saying,

It's not about preparation, it's about attitude. That's not even a viable strategy on Ru Paul's Drag Race! Where, oh, bring the attitude, sure, but you better also bring your knowledge of wigs, makeup, fashion, and tucking technique or you sashay away, my friend! But Trump is undeniably confident.

Oliver then proceeded to play another clip of Trump in which the president was asked how soon he would know if the talks at the summit were effective. In response, the president indicated, "I think within the first minute, I'll know. Just my touch, my feel. That's what I do."

The host was similarly aghast at Trump's remarks regarding how he would assess the summit's effectiveness. Indeed, Oliver appeared somewhat outraged when he commented,

It's not a great sign for a negotiation where so much depends on tone and choice of words that he's describing his strategy in the single most upsetting possible way. Oh, I'm going to grope my way through this, we're all going to use our tongues and mouths to bring this summit to a satisfying climax. Why is everyone looking at me weird?

Oliver wrapped up his North Korea segment by suggesting the audience look on the the bright side. "Look, we still have two days until the summit," Oliver joked. "So that's at least two more sunsets for all of us to enjoy."

President Trump is already in Singapore, the country where the historic summit will take place on June 12. Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, is also already in the country. The meeting between the two leaders will take place at Singapore's Capella Hotel, on the island of Sentosa.

According to The Guardian, North Korea's state-run media reported on Monday that the summit will focus on establishing a “permanent and durable peace-keeping mechanism” on the Korean Peninsula as well as on denuclearization. As CNN reported on June 10, Trump has recently indicated that the summit could constitute just the beginning of negotiations with North Korea regarding peace and denuclearization. However, the U.S. president has also expressed positivity about the summit and Kim's intentions, with CNN reporting that he told reporters on Saturday:

I feel that Kim Jong Un wants to do something great for his people, and he has that opportunity, and he won't have that opportunity again. ... So, I really believe that he's going to do something very positive.

The upcoming summit constitutes the first-ever meeting between a sitting U.S. president and leader of North Korea. As The Guardian reported, around 2,500 journalists from all over the world are registered to cover the summit. It will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

It is clear that the upcoming summit is receiving a lot of attention — and that it could potentially have high stakes. Thus, this perhaps explains why Oliver appeared a bit shocked by Trump's seemingly nonchalant preparation work. The world will certainly soon see the implications of Trump's preparation strategy and of the summit itself — and many are likely anxiously awaiting the results of the historic meeting.