"I'd be honored to meet him - with conditions
President Trump said Monday he would “be honored” to meet with ruthless North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un amid heightened tensions over the rogue regime’s nuclearweapons program.
“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would, absolutely. I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News.
“If it’s under the, again, under the right circumstances. But I would do that,” said the president, who a day earlier had called Kim “a pretty smart cookie” on CBS News.
North Korea’s saber-rattling has turned into the greatest national-security threat and foreign-policy issue facing Trump in his first 100 days.
Kim’s regime has stepped up development of its nuclear program, despite international condemnation and sanctions.
The murderous strongman — who has had his own family members executed — has never met with a foreign leader since taking charge after his father’s death in 2011.
“Most political people would never say that,” Trump said of his willingness to meet with Kim, “but I’m telling you: Under the right circumstances I would meet with him. We have breaking news.”
The White House later defended the president’s comments, saying that Kim, 33, had led his “country forward.”
“He assumed power at a young age when his father passed away. And there was a lot of potential threats that could have come his way, and he’s obviously managed to lead a country forward, despite the obvious concerns that we and so many people have,” said Trump press secretary Sean Spicer.
But Spicer added that Trump would not meet with Kim until certain “conditions” were met — such as toning down the threats and stopping missile and bomb tests. “Clearly, conditions are not there right now,” he said.
Spicer also addressed Trump’s unexpected White House invitation to Philippines President Rodrigo Du- terte, who is accused of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.
Spicer said Trump had been fully briefed about Duterte’s human-rights abuses but was trying to find Pacific Rim partners to help isolate North Korea.
Meanwhile, CIA Chief Mike Pompeo made a surprise trip to South Korea over the weekend — just as North Korea defied Trump by vowing to strengthen its nuclearweapons program “to the maximum.”
The visit came after North Korea conducted another missile test on Saturday, and as a spokesman for the North Korean government warned that more tests would be coming.
“Now that the US is kicking up the overall racket for sanctions and pressure against the [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], pursuant to its new DPRK policy called ‘maximum pressure and engagement,’ the DPRK will speed up at the maximum pace the measure for bolstering its nuclear deterrence,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Monday.