An armoured train carrying North Korean leader Kim Jong-un pulled into Beijing on Monday, with a summit with China’s Xi Jinping confirmed Wednesday morning by Xinhua. Perhaps Kim came to reassure China that he won’t upend regional geopolitics by making a dramatic deal with Washington.

More likely, he explained what Pyongyang is prepared to give up and what they would like in return following talks with the United States. Almost certainly, he discussed what to do if an agreement with the US doesn’t go well.

On this, the Trump administration should be worried. There is a real risk that President Donald Trump will end up being seen as the bad-faith actor, isolating his country while the two Koreas and China look to find a way out of the current iteration of the nuclear crisis.

In recent weeks, much analysis has been devoted to the potential summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un. There has been some hand-wringing among American pundits about whether Trump will forfeit the alliance with South Korea or agree to withdraw troops in a way that would harm US interests in the region.

Both scenarios are unlikely given the conservative advice reaching Trump and South Korea’s firm commitment to the alliance. Perhaps of more pressing concern is something both more probable and more mundane than these big-picture issues: what happens if Trump promises something he can’t deliver?

Please click here to read the full “US–North Korea Summit: Can Trump Deliver?” article at Real Clear Defence by Griffith Asia Institute Adjunct Research Fellow, Dr Andray Abrahamian.