On Wednesday, during a press tour of his latest construction project at the White House - a helipad - Trump confirmed what he had hinted at in recent days: an upcoming meeting with the North Korean dictator.
"Yes, I will," Trump replied when asked if he would meet Kim Jong-Un later this year.
If so, it will be the first time that Trump and Kim have met during the president's current term.
Trump also said that Kim has “57 very powerful nuclear weapons”:
It should never have been allowed to happen. But he has them. I get along very well with him.
“Completely uninteresting”
The announcement comes after the US's ongoing annual military exercise with South Korea was suddenly shortened, ending a week earlier than planned.
Kim Yo-Jong, sister of Kim Jong-Un, spoke out about the reduced exercise in state media on Wednesday.
“We don't think it's worth commenting on and we find it completely uninteresting,” she said, continuing:
“The provocative, aggressive nature of the exercises will not change despite their length and size being reduced.”
She also described the relationship between Trump and Kim Jong-Un as "excellent."
Have met three times
Trump has called the US and South Korean military exercises expensive but also said they “send signals that are totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea. At the same time, Trump has described South Korea as a bad ally, saying “no thanks” to helping the US in the war against Iran.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met three times during Trump's first term in the White House, and the American president has on several occasions spoken flatteringly about the dictator.
