Donald Trump offered Kim Jong-un ‘a ride home on Air Force One’ after Hanoi summit, documentary claims

US president ‘stunned even the most seasoned diplomats’ by offering Kim a lift home after 2019 summit in Vietnam, according to new BBC documentary

Kim and Trump embarked on an extraordinary diplomatic ‘bromance’ over the years that featured headline-grabbing summits and a declaration of love

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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un before a meeting in Hanoi in 2019. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:32am, 22 Feb 2021Updated: 11:32am, 22 Feb 2021

Donald Trump offered North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a ride home on Air Force One after their summit in Hanoi two years ago, according to a new documentary.

Kim and Trump first engaged in a war of words and mutual threats, before an extraordinary diplomatic ‘bromance’ that featured headline-grabbing summits and a declaration of love by the former US president.

But no substantive progress was made, with the process deadlocked after the pair’s meeting in Hanoi broke up over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

According to BBC documentary Trump Takes on the World, the US president “stunned even the most seasoned diplomats” by offering Kim a lift home on Air Force One after the 2019 summit in Vietnam.

Donald Trump waves from the top of the steps of Air Force One in August last year. Photo: AP

If Kim had accepted the offer, it would have put the North Korean leader – and probably some of his entourage – inside the US president’s official aircraft and seen it enter North Korean airspace, raising multiple security issues. In the event, Kim turned it down.