© White HouseThe heavily produced video, made with both Korean and English voiceovers, portrays Kim Jong-un as a man with a choice of moving his country forward or backward
Donald Trump said Tuesday that part of his hard sell to Kim Jong-un about giving up his nuclear weapons was a video that showed the benefits of shaking off the chains of near-global economic sanctions - including the possibility of developing his country's beaches.
But the image chosen by the film's producers didn't depict anything North Korea has to offer. It showed part of the Miami Beach skyline, something that Trump said was 'a version of what could happen and take place.'
'They have great beaches! You see that whenever they're exploding the cannons into the ocean, right?' Trump said after he played the dramatic, Hollywood-produced four minute video for the press corps.
'So I said, "Boy, look at that beach. Wouldn't that make a great condo behind-," and I explained it,' the real estate billionaire recalled.
'I said, "Instead of doing that you could have the best hotels in the world right there." Think of it from a real estate perspective.'
President Donald Trump told reporters that part of his hard sell to Kim Jong-un on Tuesday involved encouraging him keep his word on nukes so he could have economic sanctions dropped and ultimately develop his country's beaches
The White House did not immediately respond to a question about why Trump's team included the images.
A voiceover in the video described Tuesday's summit as 'a special moment in time when a man is presented with one chance that may never be repeated. What will he choose? To show vision and leadership? Or not?'
'Will this leader choose to advance his country and be part of a new world? Be the hero of his people?' the narrator says later, over a climactic string orchestra. 'Will he shake the hand of peace and enjoy prosperity like he has never seen? A great life, or isolation? Which path will be chosen?'
But Trump seemed most animated when he talked about the commercial possibilities for the long-isolated hermit kingdom.
'You have South Korea, you have China, and they own the land in the middle. How bad is that, right? It's great!'
'But I told him, I said, "You may not want to do what's there. You may want to do a smaller version of it or, you know." And that could be,' he allowed.
'Although I tell you what, he looked at that tape, he looked at that iPad. And I'm telling you they really enjoyed it, I
Trump said his team had brought the video to Singapore on 'on a cassette and an iPad.' It's unclear whether the White House believed it would have to provide an old-technology way for Kim to view it once he was home in Pyongyang.
'That was a tape that we gave to Chairman Kim and his people, his representatives. And it captures a lot, captures what can be done,' he said.
What initially appeared to reporters at the president's post-summit press conference to be a propaganda video - it was played first in Korean, and then in English - was something the White House ordered from a production company, Trump said.
The video twice mentioned 'Destiny Pictures.' There is a production company by that name, headed by Mark Castaldo, a film producer with just a handful of credits.
According to his online biography, Castaldo 'began a professional career in the casino business working 10 years in Atlantic City and Las Vegas' before becoming a filmmaker.
It's unclear whether the White House chose his company, and why.
But the video was long on dramatics and framed the Trump-Kim summit as a history-shaping moment.
Trump was in Singapore for negotiations aiming to persuade Kim to completely destroy his nuclear weapons and missile programs
'History is always evolving, and there comes a time when only a few are called upon to make a difference. But the question is: What difference will the few make? The past doesn't have to be the future.
'Out of the darkness can come the light, and the light of hope can burn bright.'
Part of the video's message is that North Korea has the potential to engage with the world in technology and science
'Investment from around the world, where you can have medical breakthroughs, an abundance of resources, innovative technology and new discoveries.'
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