‘Kim Jong Un Is A Friend’: Trump Explains Why North Korea Can Have Nukes But Iran Cannot

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday again highlighted his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, calling him a “friend” while acknowledging that Pyongyang has a “pretty large” nuclear capability.

Trump made the remarks at the White House after being asked why North Korea can possess nuclear weapons while his administration is seeking to prevent Iran from acquiring them.

“He happens to be a friend of mine. Kim Jong Un is a friend of mine,” Trump said. “He likes Trump… I’m about the only person in the entire world that he likes, and I like him.”

“As long as I’m around, he’s going to be fine. You know why? Because he respects me and he likes me,” Trump added.

Trump also acknowledged North Korea’s nuclear arsenal and blamed previous US administrations for failing to prevent Pyongyang from developing nuclear weapons.

“Kim does have a nuclear capacity, a large nuclear, pretty large nuclear capacity, not like us, but he has a nuclear capacity,” Trump said, according to Yonhap.

From Threats To Diplomacy

Trump and Kim’s relationship underwent a major shift during Trump’s first presidency. The two initially exchanged threats as North Korea accelerated its nuclear and missile tests, with Trump warning of “fire and fury.”

The relationship changed in 2018, when Trump and Kim met in Singapore in the first summit between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader. The two sides agreed to work toward improved US-North Korea relations and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

A second summit in Hanoi in February 2019 ended without an agreement, with the two sides divided over the scope of North Korea’s nuclear concessions and sanctions relief.

Trump later met Kim at the Demilitarised Zone in June 2019 and briefly crossed into North Korea, becoming the first sitting US president to do so. The two leaders have not met in person since.

Trump Signals Interest In Another Kim Meeting

Trump has continued to speak positively about Kim during his second presidency and has expressed interest in meeting him again.

He has also previously linked US policy toward South Korea to his relationship with the North Korean leader and questioned the scale of US-South Korea military exercises.

Yonhap reported that speculation has continued over whether Trump could seek to meet Kim during a potential Asia trip around the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.

North Korea’s Nuclear Arsenal

North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006 and has carried out six nuclear tests, with the latest in 2017.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that North Korea had possibly assembled around 60 nuclear warheads at the beginning of 2026 and possessed enough fissile material to produce at least 30 more. SIPRI said Pyongyang continued to expand its nuclear capabilities and develop new missile systems.

North Korea’s nuclear programme remains highly opaque, meaning estimates of its arsenal and capabilities carry significant uncertainty.