Part of the problem is the design. An official American coin with a likeness of Kim Jong Un on it that refers to him as “Supreme Leader” feels off, to say the least, given that his government is currently holding at least 120,000 of its own people in vicious camps designed specifically to hold and punish political prisoners. The coin also depicts Trump and Kim looking at each other eye to eye, as if they’re on equal footing — exactly the kind of status boost that the pariah regime in Pyongyang wants to achieve in this summit.
But the most fundamental issue with the coin is that the summit has not yet taken place. Trump is preemptively celebrating the summit itself as a major accomplishment, making it harder for him to walk away and declare failure if North Korea isn’t as cooperative as he expects.
This kind of pageantry makes the president’s personal reputation contingent on the summit being a success, when, in fact, most North Korea experts believe North Korea won’t give Trump what he wants.