The White House says President Trump has accepted an invitation to meet directly with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. This is South Korea’s National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong, speaking to reporters Thursday night outside the White House after briefing officials on the recent talks between Seoul and Pyongyang.

Chung Eui-yong: “President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un, by May, to achieve permanent denuclearization.”

The South Korean official went on to say the meeting would take place within two months. No sitting U.S. president has ever met with a North Korean leader. Kim Jong-un has never met another head of state.

Thursday night’s announcement was a complete surprise. It came at a time when Trump has been beset with escalating questions about his alleged affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels, including questions about whether a $130,000 payoff to her, sent by Trump’s personal lawyer only days before the 2016 election, could have violated federal election law.

Thursday’s announcement of direct talks even appeared to be a complete surprise within the Trump White House. Only hours earlier, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said talks were a long way away.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: “In terms of direct talks with the United States—and you asked negotiations, and we’re a long ways from negotiations. I think it’s—we just need to be very clear-eyed and realistic about it.”

That was Tillerson speaking Thursday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This is Tillerson speaking today in Djibouti.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: “In terms of the decision to engage, between President Trump and Kim Jong-un, that’s a decision the president took himself.”

The potential talks between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un come after a delegation of South Korean officials traveled to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong-un, where he said he’d suspend nuclear weapons testing in order to hold talks with the United States. We’ll have more on the possible talks between the U.S. and North Korea after headlines.