Former U.S. President Donald Trump has boasted about his personal ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, anticipating that the recalcitrant leader might like to see him return to office and “misses” him.
Trump made the remarks in an apparent sign of his desire to resume dialogue with Pyongyang, as he delivered a speech to accept the official GOP nomination for the Nov. 5 presidential election during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, the fourth and last day of the event.
“I got along with him, and we stopped the missile launches from North Korea. Now, North Korea is acting up again, but when we get back, I get along with him,” he said.
“He’d like to see me back too. I think he misses me,” he added, arousing laughter from the audience.
Noting the press’ criticism of his ties with Kim, Trump said, “It’s nice to get along with somebody who has a lot of nuclear weapons.”
His remarks came amid a flurry of speculation over whether he would resume direct diplomacy with Kim, if reelected.
During his first term, his leader-to-leader engagement approach led to three high-profile meetings with Kim, including their first summit in Singapore in 2018, though denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since their 토토 no-deal summit in Hanoi in February 2019.
Castigating security and foreign policies of his rival, President Joe Biden, Trump took note of the deteriorating security conditions on the Korean Peninsula.
“The war is now raging in Europe and the Middle East. A growing specter of conflict hangs over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines and all of Asia, and our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III,” he said.