President Donald Trump said Friday that he wants “my people” to sit up at attention for him like North Koreans do for their brutal dictator, Kim Jong Un.

“He’s the head of the country,” Trump said of Kim during a live interview on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”

“And I mean he’s the strong head. Don’t let anyone think anything different,” Trump continued. “He speaks and his people sit up at attention. I want my people to do the same.”

The president gestured to the White House when he made the comment about “my people,” implying that he was referring to those who report to him directly — not US citizens as a whole.

Later Friday, the president told reporters that he was only joking.

“I was kidding,” he said. “You don’t understand sarcasm.”

Trump has been lavishing praise on Kim ever since he wrapped up his summit with the despot on Tuesday, calling him “funny,” “smart,” “very talented” and someone who “loves his people.”

Watchdog groups and the US government have slammed Kim for leading a murderous regime rife with human-rights violations, including executions and starvations.

When asked how he could mourn the death of American Otto Warmbier, who was held hostage by Pyongyang, but not attack Kim’s human rights record, Trump said he wants to have a good rapport with the leader.

“I don’t want to see a nuclear weapon destroy you and your family,” Trump told reporters. “I want to have a good relationship with North Korea. I want to have a good relationship with many countries.”

Trump warned that millions of lives are at risk if there isn’t a truce.

“I don’t mean like, you know, people are saying 100,000. Seoul has 28 million people 30 miles off the [North Korean] border. You would have had 30, 40, 50 million people killed. Who knows what would have happened?” he said.

After signing an agreement with Kim committing the North to denuclearization in exchange for unspecified security guarantees, Trump pooh-poohed Kim’s iron-fisted rule.

“He’s a tough guy,” Trump said. “Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, with tough people, and you take it over from your father, I don’t care who you are, what you are, how much of an advantage you have.

“If you can do that at 27 years old, I mean that’s one in 10,000 that could do that. So he’s a very smart guy, he’s a great negotiator. But I think we understand each other,” he said.