CIA Director and secretary-of-state nominee Mike Pompeo reportedly visited North Korea this month and met with strongman Kim Jong-un.
Pompeo — facing a tense confirmation process in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee — was in the rogue nation over Easter weekend to lay the groundwork for potential talks between Kim and Trump, according to The Washington Post.
Pompeo has been communicating with North Korean representatives through a diplomatic channel that runs between the CIA and its North Korean counterpart, the Reconnaissance General Bureau, according to The New York Times.
President Trump on Tuesday hinted at the meeting.
Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said the US had engaged in direct talks with North Korea “at very high levels,” but would not elaborate.
The top US diplomat, acting Secretary of State John Sullivan, was at Mar-a-Lago in Florida with Trump to participate in meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
A sit-down between Trump and Kim — the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader — is expected to take place by June.
Trump said five possible locations had been considered for the meeting, none in the United States.
