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Trump says Kim Jong Un will be ‘fine’ with ‘smart president’

"I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he's going to be fine as long as we have a smart president," US President Donald Trump told reporters ⁠on Wednesday during a tour of a helipad he is constructing on the White House's historic South Lawn.

Agencies and A News AMERICAS
Published August 19,2026 08:50 PM
Updated August 19,2026 09:04 PM
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US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he knows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "very well" and suggested Kim would be "fine" as long as the United States has a "smart president."

Asked whether he has been exchanging letters with Kim, Trump declined to answer directly but said the two leaders have a good relationship.

"I get along with him very well," Trump said, adding that North Korea has "57 very powerful nuclear weapons."

"Should have never allowed it to happen," Trump said, arguing that North Korea should not have been permitted to acquire nuclear weapons. "When I was president, I wouldn't have allowed it, but he's got them."

"I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he's going to be fine," he said. "As long as we have a smart president, he's going to be fine. If we have a dumb president, then he's probably not going to be so fine," he said.

Asked whether he expects to meet Kim later this year, Trump replied: "Yeah, I will be."