Trump Calls Kim's Nuclear Arsenal 'Pretty Large,' Contrasts Iran
Trump called Kim Jong Un's nuclear arsenal 'pretty large' and said Kim will be 'fine' as long as he is around, contrasting North Korea's arms with Iran.
President Trump said Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a “pretty large” nuclear arsenal and predicted Kim will be “fine” as long as he remains in office, remarks made during a White House press availability after a meeting with artificial-intelligence executives, according to Korea JoongAng Daily.
The comments came in response to a reporter’s question about why North Korea is permitted to hold nuclear weapons while Trump has repeatedly said Iran cannot be allowed to acquire them.
What Trump Said
“He does have a nuclear capacity, a pretty large nuclear [capacity], not like us, but he has a nuclear capacity,” Trump said of Kim, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. He attributed North Korea’s arsenal to the failures of prior administrations, saying, “Because they had presidents that didn’t do what I did… That could have been stopped.”
On Kim’s safety, Trump said, “As long as I am around, [Kim is] going to be fine… He respects me and likes me.” He went further, calling Kim “a friend of mine” who “likes Trump” and “doesn’t like a lot of other people,” the outlet reported.
Trump did not directly answer the reporter’s underlying question of why North Korea’s arsenal is tolerated while Iran’s is not, according to Korea JoongAng Daily’s account. His response centered on his personal rapport with Kim rather than a policy distinction between the two countries.
Newsweek framed the remarks in similar terms, reporting that Trump’s comments set North Korea apart from Iran on nuclear status, without specifying what that difference is beyond the personal relationship Trump described with Kim.
A Possible Summit on the Calendar
Korea JoongAng Daily also reported that Trump signaled interest in meeting Kim again before the end of 2026, potentially on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November. No date, venue, or agenda has been confirmed by either government.
Trump met Kim three times during his first term without securing a deal that curtailed North Korea’s weapons program. Pyongyang has continued to expand its arsenal in the years since, including additional missile and satellite-launch tests reported by outside monitors.
The Iran Contrast, in Context
The remarks land in the same week Trump told reporters that Iran “will give up” its pursuit of nuclear capability, a comment this desk covered Monday that also invoked North Korea as a comparison point. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps responded by accusing the president of lying about Tehran’s nuclear intentions, calling him “a big liar,” and Russia has separately urged Iran to stay inside the Non-Proliferation Treaty rather than withdraw, a position the Kremlin repeated this week.
Trump has also denied that his administration is offering Iran sanctions relief in exchange for nuclear concessions, a denial this desk reported Monday. Monday’s North Korea remarks do not resolve the tension in that public record: Trump treats Kim’s existing, larger arsenal as a fact of life to be managed through personal diplomacy, while insisting Iran’s smaller, unweaponized program must not be allowed to reach the same point.
What’s Unconfirmed
Korea JoongAng Daily’s report is the primary source for Monday’s exact quotes; a full White House transcript of the press availability had not been published at the time of this article. No date or location for a prospective Trump-Kim meeting has been officially announced by the White House or Pyongyang. The specific mechanism by which the administration distinguishes North Korea’s nuclear status from Iran’s has not been articulated by Trump or any administration official beyond the personal-relationship framing reported here.
Analysis: Personal Rapport as Policy Substitute
This section is analysis, not reporting.
Trump’s answer notably did not engage the reporter’s actual question — why an arsenal is acceptable in Pyongyang’s hands but not Tehran’s. Instead he substituted a claim about personal chemistry with Kim for a policy rationale, a pattern consistent with his first-term approach to North Korea, which produced summits and photo opportunities but no verified reduction in Pyongyang’s weapons stockpile. If the administration is signaling a similar track for Iran — high-profile diplomacy in place of enforceable limits — that would mark a departure from the sanctions-and-pressure approach the White House has publicly maintained toward Tehran this week. Whether a Trump-Kim meeting materializes at the November APEC summit, and whether it produces any new commitment on North Korea’s arsenal, will be the clearer test of whether personal rapport translates into policy.
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