U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he expects to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un again this year could reopen a diplomatic channel that has been largely dormant. That is welcome news, but the prospect of another Trump-Kim summit also raises a more important question: What does Washington hope to achieve this time? Trump said on Aug. 19 that he expected to meet Kim this year and emphasized that he has a “very good” relationship with the North Korean leader. He also acknowledged that North Korea possesses a substantial nuclear arsenal, saying it should never have been allowed to develop one. The comments suggest that Trump understands the reality he faces. North Korea is a nuclear-armed state with increasingly sophisticated missiles and has been expanding its military cooperation. Any realistic U.S. strategy must begin by recognizing that reality rather than pretending the strategic landscape has remained unchanged since Trump’s first summit with Kim in 2018. However, recognizing reality should not mean accepting it as permanent. The purpose of renewed diplomacy s