U.S. President Donald Trump once again referred to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a nuclear power leader on Thursday, expressing his willingness to rebuild relations with him.
According to Reuters, Trump responded affirmatively when reporters asked if he would work to rebuild relations with Kim during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office.
Trump said, “I have a great relationship with Kim Jong Un, and we’ll see what happens, but certainly he’s a nuclear power.”
Discussing the nuclear arsenals of Russia and China, Trump emphasized, “It would be a great achievement if we could bring down the number. We have so many weapons, and the power is so great.”
“And number one, you don’t need them to that extent. And then we’d have to get others, ’cause, as you know, in a smaller way – Kim Jong Un has a lot of nuclear weapons, by the way, a lot, and others do also. You have India, you have Pakistan, you have others that have them, and we get them involved.”
Reuters asked the White House if Trump’s remarks signaled a policy shift regarding North Korea’s nuclear weapons and received a response that, as in his first term, Trump will continue to pursue the complete denuclearization of North Korea. This indicates that the Trump administration does not officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear power.
During his inauguration in January, Trump also referred to North Korea as a nuclear power, saying, “I got along well with North Korea.” This sparked debate over whether the U.S. was abandoning its goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea. Subsequently, the White House clarified through senior officials that the second Trump administration is still seeking complete denuclearization of North Korea and has also specified this in documents such as the United States-Japan Joint Leaders’ Statement.
Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the official term for countries recognized as possessing nuclear weapons manufacturing and operation technology is “Nuclear Weapon State.” This applies to the U.S., China, Russia, France, and the U.K., which differs from the term “nuclear power” used by Trump.
Trump reflected on his initially tense relationship with Kim, noting that the rhetoric against him was quite tough but eventually stopped. He explained that they requested talks, leading to their first meeting at the U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore in 2018.
Trump claimed the summit led to South Korea’s “tremendous success” in the Olympics, asserting, “No one wanted to be hit by a nuclear weapon, so no one wanted to buy Olympic tickets.” This likely refers to the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, which included North Korean athletes.
Trump also mentioned Hillary Clinton, his 2016 election opponent, claiming that if she had won, there would have been a nuclear war. He further alleged that former President Barack Obama deliberately ignored calls from Kim Jong Un.