On Wednesday, former U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called him to propose a meeting after they exchanged harsh words regarding the nuclear launch button during his presidency.
Although Trump has repeatedly asserted that he spoke with Kim, there is no solid evidence of direct communication between the two outside of the three summits held between 2018 and 2019 and several exchanges of letters. Therefore, the authenticity of his recent statement remains uncertain.
According to a report by Yonhap News, Trump mentioned during a campaign rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, “Let me tell you, I know all of them. I know President Xi. I know Putin. I know Kim Jong Un of North Korea Biden.” He went on to say that during his time in office, he had no issues with Kim Jong Un and maintained a good relationship with him.
Trump recalled the rough start to their talks, saying, “I was calling him ‘Little Rocket Man,’ and he was saying, ‘I’ve got a red button on my desk, and I’m willing to use it.'” Trump responded at the time with a tweet: “I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
This comment referred to an exchange in January 2018, when Kim mentioned in his New Year’s address that “The nuclear button is on my desk,” prompting Trump’s Twitter response about his own “bigger and more powerful” button.
During the rally, Trump went on to claim, “And then, and then he called me and asked for a meeting, and we had a meeting.”
After heightened tensions in 2017 over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, communications between the two nations increased, leading to the historic U.S.-North Korea summit in Singapore in June 2018. However, there is no verified phone call record between the two leaders.
In an August 2019 radio interview, Trump claimed that he received a call from Kim about ten minutes after he suggested a meeting via X, then Twitter.
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