WASHINGTON -- During a news conference at the G-7 (Group of Seven) summit, President Donald Trump suggested that first lady Melania Trump knew North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, instigating the White House to clarify the comments later Monday.

"Kim Jong Un — who I’ve gotten to know extremely well; the first lady has gotten to know Kim Jong Un, and I think she’d agree with me — he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential,” Trump said Monday morning.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham then issued a clarification stating that the first lady and North Korean leader did not know each other personally as Trump had suggested.

Grisham said in the statement, “President Trump confides in his wife on many issues including the detailed elements of his strong relationship with Chairman Kim — and while the First Lady hasn’t met him, the President feels like she’s gotten to know him too."

Grisham previously served as the first lady’s spokeswoman.

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Trump’s comments came during a press conference at the end of the summit as part of an answer about Iran where the president pivoted to talking about North Korea.

The first lady has not been present for any of the three in-person meetings between Trump and Kim.

The president and the North Korean leader first met in Singapore in June 2018. At that time, the first lady was unable to fly following a medical procedure.

Trump and Kim met twice this year, once at their second summit in Hanoi and a third time at the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, when Trump beame the first U.S. president to cross into North Korean territory.

The first lady was not present for either of those interactions.

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