US President Donald Trump has confirmed that he expects to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. Speaking to reporters on the South Lawn, Trump said, “Yeah, I will be. I’ll be doing this too,” when asked about the potential meeting.

He emphasised his personal relationship with Kim, describing their rapport as beneficial for international relations. Trump stated, “I get along with him right. And you know what, the fact that I get along with him, that’s a good thing, not a bad thing.”

During the exchange, Trump highlighted North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, claiming that Kim possesses fifty-seven powerful nuclear weapons. He remarked that such a stockpile should never have been allowed to develop. Trump added, “If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it. But he’s got ’em. I get along with him very well. You can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.”

He defended his approach to North Korea, expressing confidence in the outlook for the region under US leadership. He said, “I know Kim Jong Un very well. And he’s gonna be fine. As long as we have a smart president, he’s gonna be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he’s probably not gonna be so fine.”

Earlier, Trump noted that Kim Jong Un had always treated him with “great respect.” He explained that they had met on multiple occasions and understood each other well. Trump contrasted his relationship with Kim against the North Korean leader’s reported dislike of previous US presidents, stating, “He didn’t like Biden, he didn’t like Obama, he didn’t like anybody, but I get along with him very well. Now, what I’m doing is making things safer, just the opposite.”

This confirmation comes after Trump instructed Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to substantially reduce joint military exercises with South Korea. He cited his relationship with Kim Jong Un and described the drills as costly and inappropriate.

On Truth Social, Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the United States’ long-standing agreement to participate in such exercises, saying, “Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea.”

If the meeting takes place, it would mark Trump’s first encounter with Kim Jong Un during his second term as US President. Between 2018 and 2019, Trump and Kim met face-to-face three times in unprecedented direct diplomacy.

Their first historic meeting occurred at the Singapore Summit in June 2018, where both leaders signed a joint declaration to establish new bilateral relations, build a lasting peace regime, pursue complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, and recover American war remains. Following that summit, Trump announced the suspension of major US-South Korea military exercises, calling them “provocative war games.”

The second meeting took place at the Hanoi Summit in Vietnam in February 2019. Negotiations collapsed over disagreements on sanctions relief and nuclear dismantlement. North Korea offered to decommission the Yongbyon nuclear facility in exchange for major sanctions relief, but the US insisted on broader denuclearisation across undisclosed sites, leading to an early end without agreement.

Their third meeting occurred in June 2019 at the Korean Demilitarized Zone in Panmunjom. Trump crossed into North Korean territory, becoming the first sitting US president to do so.

Joined briefly by South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Trump and Kim held a fifty-minute private talk inside the Freedom House and agreed to restart working-level nuclear negotiations.

The upcoming meeting, if realised, would continue Trump’s unique approach to North Korea, combining personal rapport with strategic decisions such as scaling back military exercises with South Korea. It underscores his belief that direct engagement with Kim Jong Un can contribute to stability on the Korean Peninsula.

ANI