US President Donald Trump smiles during a press conference in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with cryptocurrency executives on Aug. 19, 2026. (Reuters/Yonhap)
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he intends to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un within the year but avoided giving a response when asked whether his objective in engaging with Pyongyang again was still denuclearization.Trump claimed that North Korea currently possesses 57 nuclear weapons, while emphasizing the importance of his own leadership, stating that Kim would be “fine as long as we have a smart president.”Speaking on Wednesday morning at a site where repairs are taking place on the White House lawn and helipad, Trump was asked whether he expected to meet with Kim before the end of the year.“Yeah, I will be,” he replied, although he did not provide any additional details on the specific meeting time and place or the status of discussions between Pyongyang and Washington.Trump also avoided giving an answer when asked if he was exchanging letters with Kim.“I can’t tell you that,” he responded.“The fact that I get along with him, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing,” he continued.In giving his remarks, Trump stated that Kim “has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons.”“Should’ve never allowed it to happen. They should’ve never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it,” he continued.“I know Kim Jong-un very well, and he’s going to be fine as long as we have a smart president,” Trump said.“If we have a dumb president, then he’s probably not going to be so fine,” he added. His remarks were interpreted as saying that the US would be able to manage Kim provided that it had good leadership in place.Later that afternoon, Trump was asked during an event with fintech leaders at the White House whether his goal in trying to reengage with Kim was still denuclearization.“I don’t want to talk about that,” he replied.“But I do have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un,” he added.Officially, the Trump administration has continued to demand North Korea’s denuclearization.Trump went on to say that Kim “didn’t like Biden, he didn’t like Obama, he didn’t like anybody, but he likes me, and I like [him].”“I just got along with him very good. We had great meetings; we speak,” he continued.“And I think our nation and I think other nations, frankly, whether it’s Japan or South Korea, they’re a lot safer if I’m president than if somebody else is president,” he added.Trump also drew connections between his relationship with Kim and his recent decision to order South Korea-US joint military exercises to be scaled back.“I didn’t like the fact that we’re doing these massive military exercises, really, against North Korea,” he said.“We were doing a massive war exercise. I thought that was very insulting to somebody that frankly has been, during my term at least, very well-behaved,” he added.He also reiterated his frustration over Seoul’s reluctance to assist the US in the Strait of Hormuz, complaining that South Korea was not agreeing to US requests for support despite the US’ contributions to the security of South Korea and Japan.By Kim Won-chul, Washington correspondentPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
