U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his upcoming Asia tour. Speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Saturday (October 25), Trump said he maintains a “great relationship” with Kim, according to British media outlet BBC.
“I am willing to meet Kim Jong Un,” Trump told reporters. “If you want to report that, I’m interested.”
In 2019, Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to step into North Korea, marking a historic moment in U.S.–North Korea relations. During his first term, he held three high-profile summits with Kim, though the talks ended without a concrete agreement on denuclearization.
Trump’s Asia trip will include visits to Malaysia and Japan, where he plans to meet several world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping. The tour comes as trade negotiations resume following his administration’s aggressive tariff policies.
Trump has long taken an unconventional approach to North Korea, a country widely seen as a totalitarian and isolated regime. Early in his presidency, he mocked Kim as “Little Rocket Man” over the country’s nuclear ambitions.
Last month, North Korean state media quoted Kim saying he was open to another meeting if the United States dropped its “unreasonable” demand for Pyongyang to fully abandon its nuclear program. South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young also told AFP there is a “significant possibility” of a Trump–Kim meeting during the APEC forum.
However, Anadolu Agency reports that a senior U.S. official insisted no such meeting is currently included in Trump’s official schedule. The leaders’ last encounter — at the inter-Korean demilitarized zone — happened after Trump extended an invitation via social media.
Trump’s first destination on the tour is Malaysia, where he will attend the ASEAN Summit. He is expected to arrive in the South Korean port city of Busan next Wednesday ahead of the APEC summit and will meet South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
