President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a friend and downplayed concerns about North Korea’s nuclear arsenal during remarks in Washington, DC, on Tuesday.
Trump was responding to a reporter’s question about why North Korea could possess nuclear weapons while Iran could not. He said earlier U.S. administrations could have stopped Kim, and said Kim likes him while disliking many other people. Trump said he was “about the only person in the entire world” Kim likes, adding that he likes Kim as well. He described North Korea’s nuclear capacity as “pretty large.”
Trump also said, “as long as I’m around, he’s going to be fine.” The reports provided did not include further details of any policy action or response from North Korea. A separate report concerned Trump’s denial of an Axios report about possible sanctions relief and frozen Iranian funds.