President Donald Trump has announced his intention to engage in talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, amid concerns surrounding the nation’s arsenal of 57 potent nuclear weapons.
This statement surfaced following Trump’s directive to U.S. defense officials to prematurely end collaborative military drills with the South Korean forces.
In a message shared on social media Sunday, Trump criticized the military exercises, describing them as an “inappropriate and hostile” message to North Korea, a nation he claims has shown nothing but unthreatening and respectful behavior during his presidency.
Initially, relations were strained, with Kim branding Trump a “mentally deranged US dotard” and warning of a “nuclear button” within his reach.
However, the adversarial rhetoric eventually gave way to historic encounters, including a significant moment at the Korean Peninsula’s demilitarized zone, where Trump became the first active U.S. president to set foot in North Korea.
The leaders’ relationship cooled after the face-to-face meetings in 2018 and 2019.
“I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he’s going to be fine as long as we have a smart president,” Trump told reporters during a tour of the helipad he is constructing on the White House’s historic south lawn.
“I get along with him well,” Trump said. “And you know what? The fact that I get along with him, that’s a very good thing, not a bad thing.”
“He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons They should have never allowed it. If I were president, I wouldn’t have allowed it. But he’s got them,” Trump said.
Trump’s citing of a specific number of nuclear weapons held by North Korea was highly unusual.
There have been varying estimates by experts over the years on how many nuclear weapons North Korea has.
The US government does not publicly publish an official estimate of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, although a 2025 report by the Congressional Research Service cited non-governmental experts as estimating that North Korea has produced enough fissile material for up to 90 warheads but may have assembled approximately 50.
In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that North Korea has “possibly assembled around 60 warheads, possesses enough fissile material to produce at least 30 more”.