In his time as president, Donald Trump has proven himself to be one of the most divisive leaders in living memory. As well as raising tensions amongst Americans, the former businessman has also threatened to start a trade war with Europe, and managed to anger pretty much every non-white nation when he made supposedly a comment about not wanting immigrants from "s***hole countries".
One of his most notorious (and dangerous) moves, however, was his decision to personally attack Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea.
In the past, Trump has described Kim Jong Un as "Little Rocket Man", and appeared to be flippantly joking about starting a global war when he made the statement that he has a "much bigger and more powerful" nuclear button than the North Korean dictator.
It might come as somewhat of a shock, then, that the two leaders have agreed to meet.
Just this weekend, Trump said in his speech at the Gridiron dinner: "I would not rule out direct talks with Kim Jong Un. I just won’t. As far as the risk of dealing with a madman is concerned, that’s his problem, not mine."
Just a matter of days later, South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, delivered an invitation to Trump to meet with his long-time foe.
"[President Trump] will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined," said White House spokeswoman, Sarah Sanders.
According to her, Trump "greatly appreciates the nice words" of the delegation and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. "He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined. We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain."
Trump himself has described the move as "great progress".
President Moon of South Korea described the announcement as "historic", and seemed relieved that the two leaders were approaching a more diplomatic discussion of the issues that have driven them apart for so long.
"This is an almost miraculous event; my administration will prepare toward the May meeting with utmost diligence," he said via a spokesperson.
However, other nations weren't so quick to express their optimism. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke with Trump over the phone in order to remind him of the importance of keeping a lid on the actions of North Korea. In a discussion with reporters, Abe said that he and Trump agreed to "keep putting maximum pressure until North Korea takes concrete actions toward denuclearization."
Julie Bishop, the Foreign Minister for Australia, said that her government welcomed "dialogue with North Korea", but she also reminded Trump that "North Korea has a history of making agreements and then failing to honor them."
This meeting will certainly be an unprecedented opportunity for the two leaders to settle their differences and hopefully cool off on the nuclear threats - we just have to hope that the pair of them can act in the best interests of their citizens.
