On February 27, 2019, President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un clasped hands and smiled warmly for the cameras at a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam.

I think there's a very successful. Great relationship. I think it would be very successful.

They were friendly, despite past animosity. Kim had once called Trump a dotard. Trump had promised to rain fire and fury down on North Korea. But in this moment, that was in the past. The two leaders had been trading personal letters. And Trump, in the lead up to the meeting, even said, quote, we fell in love.

They're an odd couple, you know. And Pierce Anthony Kuhn was there in Hanoi to cover the meeting even said, quote, we fell in love. They're an odd couple, you know.

NPR's Anthony Kuhn was there in Hanoi to cover the meeting as Trump and Kim negotiated about

North Korea's nuclear program.

The city was abuzz with motorcades of various government whizzing back and forth.

Everybody was in Hanoi seemed to be trying to cash in on it.

There were T-shirts with Trump and Kim on it.

People were getting these high and tight Kim Jong-un haircuts.

And, of course, lots of, you know, Vietnamese kitsch.

Despite the fanfare, the summit ended early without a deal.

It was basically the collapse of diplomacy.

As Trump said,

Sometimes you have to walk, and this was just the collapse of diplomacy. As Trump said, sometimes you have to walk,

and this was just one of those times. Although a deal didn't happen, that meeting was a stark

contrast to the approach that Trump recently took with Iran, an approach that culminated in U.S.

airstrikes on its nuclear facilities.

Consider this. Nuclear diplomacy has been a prominent feature of Donald Trump's years in office.

So that's the topic in our weekly reporter's notebook series, where we bring you inside our reporting process. This episode, Anthony Kuhn brings us the view from the Korean Peninsula,

reflecting on his time covering Trump and Kim,

and the difficulties of covering North Korea.

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