President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he intends to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, while offering an unusually specific claim about the size of Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal. Speaking to reporters during a tour of a new helipad at the White House, Trump confirmed plans to meet Kim when asked directly about a potential encounter in 2026, saying simply, “Yeah, I will be.”
Trump told reporters that North Korea currently possesses 57 nuclear weapons, describing them as “very powerful.” Such precision is notable given that the United States does not officially recognize North Korea as a nuclear state, and it is rare for a sitting president to offer such a specific public assessment of Pyongyang’s stockpile. “He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen,” Trump said, referring to Kim, adding that he personally would not have permitted North Korea to develop such capabilities had he been president at the time.
Despite the pointed remarks about the arsenal, Trump struck a notably conciliatory tone regarding Kim personally, stating that he gets along with him well and expressing confidence that “he’s going to be fine.” He drew a contrast with Iran, reaffirming that Tehran could not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon under any circumstances.
No specific timing or location for the proposed Trump-Kim meeting was disclosed, though a Wall Street Journal report suggested Trump could meet Kim during his planned trip to China in November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Such a meeting would represent the first face-to-face encounter between the two leaders since Trump began his second term in the White House.
The announcement comes at a notable moment, as Trump simultaneously prosecutes an ongoing conflict with Iran justified explicitly on preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. His renewed focus on Kim, paired with a scaling back of joint US-South Korea military exercises, has unsettled several Asian allies and fueled speculation that he may be seeking a diplomatic win on the North Korea front even as his approach to Iran remains unresolved.