US President has struck a conciliatory tone over his relationship with North Korean leader , saying the two “get along GREAT” despite years of tensions.
“Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump shared a photograph of himself walking alongside Kim during their historic 2018 summit in Singapore. He had previously posted the same photograph on June 14, 2026, without a caption or comment, according to reports.
Trump, Kim held three meetings
held three meetings during Trump’s first presidency. Their 2018 Singapore summit was the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.
However, their diplomacy later stalled. A second summit in Hanoi in 2019 ended without an agreement after Washington and Pyongyang failed to bridge differences over North Korea’s nuclear programme and sanctions relief.
Trump has since indicated that he remains open to renewing direct engagement with Kim. In October 2025, he said he would “love” to meet the North Korean leader again, although there were no concrete preparations for another meeting at the time and Pyongyang had not publicly responded.
Trump-Kim message comes amid tensions over military drills
Trump’s latest remarks come as North Korea has criticised upcoming US-South Korea military exercises.
The joint drills, known as Ulchi Freedom Shield, are scheduled to take place from August 17 to August 27. The exercises will include training focused on drones, GPS disruption and cyberattacks as the US and its allies seek to adapt to North Korea’s evolving military capabilities.
North Korea has routinely criticised US-South Korea military exercises, describing them as provocative.
A spokesperson for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that US-Japan-South Korea military cooperation was developing into a “nuclear alliance” and warned that Pyongyang would respond to a new level of threat with a new level of deterrence.
The spokesperson also said the upcoming drills differed from exercises conducted over the previous five years and were designed to improve capabilities for warfare based on “new aspects of modern warfare”.
North Korea continues to reject denuclearisation
Despite Trump’s outreach, North Korea has continued to reject calls to give up its nuclear arsenal.
In July, Pyongyang condemned the US and its allies following the NATO summit, accusing them of intensifying military confrontation and vowing to protect its sovereignty and security through its own military capabilities.
North Korea also conducted a suspected ballistic missile launch on August 12, according to the South Korean military.
South Korea proposes phased approach
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in June 2026 that Trump was open to considering a phased approach to North Korea’s nuclear programme, Reuters reported.
Lee proposed initially halting the production of additional nuclear material, preventing the transfer of nuclear weapons or materials overseas and stopping further development of intercontinental ballistic missile technology, while retaining complete denuclearisation as the long-term objective.
