“President Trump’s pledge to cancel military exercises on the Korean Peninsula surprised not only allies in South Korea but also the Pentagon,” the New York Times reports.

“Hours after Mr. Trump’s announcement in Singapore, American troops in Seoul said they are still moving ahead with a military exercise this fall — Ulchi Freedom Guardian — until they receive guidance otherwise from the chain of command.”

“In Washington, officials at the Pentagon, State Department and White House were scrambling to figure out exactly the impact of Mr. Trump’s comments.”

Nicholas Kristof: “Trump made a huge concession — the suspension of military exercises with South Korea. That’s on top of the broader concession of the summit meeting itself, security guarantees he gave North Korea and the legitimacy that the summit provides his counterpart, Kim Jong-un.”

“Within North Korea, the ‘very special bond’ that Trump claimed to have formed with Kim will be portrayed this way: Kim forced the American president, through his nuclear and missile tests, to accept North Korea as a nuclear equal, to provide security guarantees to North Korea, and to cancel war games with South Korea that the North has protested for decades.”

“In exchange for these concessions, Trump seems to have won astonishingly little.”

First Read: “A question to ponder: What would the Republican Party have said if Barack Obama made this same deal and held the same meeting with North Korea’s dictator? How would they have reacted?”

CNBC: “By allowing only their interpreters, Trump and Kim left no one who could verify what they agreed to in the meeting. Policy experts agree, this is probably bad for the world. But for Trump and Kim, who both built empires on fictional narratives, it’s just fine. In fact, it’s ideal.”

CNN: “Trump and Kim just allowed Singapore government TV cameras into their lunch but not White House pool.”

President Trump concluded a historic meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un saying that denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula would begin “very quickly,” the New York Times reports.

In a joint statement, Mr. Trump “committed to provide security guarantees” to North Korea, and Mr. Kim “reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

Washington Post: “Trump sounded triumphant following his meeting with Kim, expressing confidence that the North Korean leader was serious about abandoning his nuclear program and transforming his country from an isolated rogue regime into a respected member of the world community.”

The Guardian: “The wording of the document signed by Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on Tuesday falls some way short of the dramatic billing the president gave it at the end of the leaders’ historic summit in Singapore.”

President Trump and Kim Jong-un of North Korea “arrived at the site of their first face-to-face meeting Tuesday, a momentous step in an improbable courtship that has opened a new chapter for the world’s largest nuclear power and the most reclusive one,” the New York Times reports.

“Brash, impulsive leaders who only a few months ago taunted each other across a nuclear abyss, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim had set aside their threats in a gamble that for now, at least, personal diplomacy can overcome decades of distrust.”