President Trump recently met and shook hands with Kim Jong Un in the demilitarized zone that separates the two Korean countries and then stepped into North Korea, something never done before by a US President. That happened after Trump invited Kim to meet him there – and after Kim sent Don a birthday card and a letter in an envelope bearing the four English letters, “SWAK.” President Trump wants their next meeting to be at Trump’s Mari Lago Golf Resort. He told Kim they could have official meetings between their golf matches and secret rendezvous and that he would only charge Kim half the going price for his stay and services. Kim wants the meeting to take place again in the demilitarized zone where he thinks they should begin by having tea, followed by a game of ping pong. He wants the ping-pong table to double as the official meeting table, and wants it to take the shape of the Korean Peninsula and to straddle the line that separates North Korea and South Korea. The president would like for the table to be round because he likes to cut corners, but seems agreeable to Kim’s suggestions.

If the President accepts Kim’s offer, other important issues which must be settled include who will serve first in the ping pong match and whether Don and Kim will change ends of the table at specified times, as outlined in ping pong rules. The latter comes to mind because it would seem odd for either player to defend from a position located in the other’s country. Another perplexing issue is who will be the stand in for each player to help settle disputes during the game. The same person would also replace a player in case he is injured or disqualified. Trump might be hard put to find a stand-in because he is so mistrusted, and Kim doesn’t have anyone whom he trusts. These and a multitude other issues will be debated when negotiations begin in about a month. Until then, as the President says, “we’ll have to wait and see.”