WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un possesses "a very substantial" nuclear arsenal and added that "as long as I'm here, he's going to be fine."
Speaking to reporters at the White House on the 29th, Trump was asked why North Korea is allowed to have nuclear weapons when Iran is not. He said other presidents had been in office, remarks widely read as blaming his predecessor, Joe Biden, for allowing the North to advance its nuclear capability unchecked.
Trump said Kim is his friend and likes him, adding that he is the only person in the world Kim likes and that he likes Kim in return. He said he draws criticism whenever he says so, and that people call it terrible. He then said Kim has nuclear capability, describing it as "very substantial" in scale and saying that while it does not match that of the United States, the North does possess it.
Trump attributed the situation to presidents who did not do what he did, saying there were presidents other than Trump and that they failed to stop it. "As long as I'm here, he's going to be fine," he added. The remarks are seen as once again treating North Korea's nuclear capability as an established fact.
