Donald Trump downplayed North Korea’s controversial nuclear programme, invoking his supposed bonhomie with Kim Jong Un.
The American president was asked why Iran could not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons when North Korea already possessed them and continued to expand its arsenal.
Mr Trump responded by blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden, for not pursuing the matter with North Korea and claimed he was the only person Mr Kim liked in the entire world.
“Because you had a different president,” Mr Trump said. “They could have stopped him. He happens to be a friend of mine. Kim Jong Un, he is a friend of mine. He likes Trump.”
Mr Trump added that Pyongyang had a “pretty large” nuclear capacity.
“He does not like a lot of other people. I am about the only person in the entire world that he likes, and I like him," the president said, referring to Mr Kim. “As long as I'm around, he's going to be fine. You know why? Because he respects me and he likes me."
"I get a lot of heat when I say that. People say that's terrible."
Mr Trump’s praise of Mr Kim came a day after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that North Korea was readying to send 10,000 additional troops to aid the Russian war against his country. He said Pyongyang had already deployed 8,000 soldiers to fight on the Russian side.
Mr Trump’s desire for another summit with Mr Kim is no secret. He has repeatedly said that “he will be” meeting the North Korean leader by the end of this year, even though no planning is underway.
According to American media reports citing anonymous sources, Mr Trump has privately pushed aides to set up a meeting with Mr Kim during his trip to China for the APEC meeting later this year.
Mr Trump recently curtailed the Ulchi Freedom Shield with South Korea. He criticised the 11-day joint military exercise as "inappropriate and hostile" towards North Korea and costly to the US, catching his allies by surprise.
In his first term, Mr Trump was the first sitting US president to meet with Mr Kim in 2018. They met twice more before the diplomacy collapsed in 2019.
Mr Trump has since boasted of “love letters” he has supposedly received from the North Korean leader.
North Korea has since formed a strategic defence alliance with Russia under which Pyongyang has expanded its conventional arsenal and helped Vladimir Putin in his war against Ukraine by sending troops and weaponry. Pyongyang has also deepened relations with China.
In that time, North Korea has also expanded its military capabilities. It has tested nuclear bombs on six separate occasions and showcased the capability to deliver them via long-range missiles.
Pyongyang has not reciprocated Mr Trump’s overtures.
After the US president scaled back the drills with South Korea, Mr Kim’s powerful sister said if the Americans saw it as “as some kind of goodwill measure”, they would “not get the answer that they desire”.
Kim Yo Jong also rejected Mr Trump's claim that he was communicating with Mr Kim, saying she was “completely unaware” of any such contact. At the same time, she said that Mr Kim retained “fond personal memories and feelings” towards Mr Trump, and that relations between the two leaders remained “excellent”.
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