“This is the beginning of the process toward the denuclearization of North Korea. I sometimes say the ‘denuking’ of North Korea, and those are beautiful words,” President Donald Trump said in the video. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Trump says U.S. must pursue peace with North Korea 'at all costs' in new video

President Donald Trump said the United States must pursue peace with North Korea "at all costs" in a video statement released by the White House on Friday afternoon.

“Anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can make peace,” Trump said.


“Our world has seen more than enough conflict. If there’s a chance at peace, if there’s a chance to end the horrible threat of nuclear conflict, then we must pursue it at all costs,” he added.

The just-under-three-minute video features footage of Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shaking hands, smiling and signing a joint agreement at the summit in Singapore earlier this week.

“We have been working very hard. I made the trip. It was worth every second. It was an incredible event. The people of Asia feel safe, and right now the people from all over the world feel much safer than the days before I was president,” Trump says in the video.

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The meeting and the video are a stark contrast to when the two leaders traded insults last summer, including a disagreement over who had a larger nuclear button. Trump talks directly to the camera and praises his talks with Kim as “open, honest, direct and very, very productive.”

“This is the beginning of the process toward the denuclearization of North Korea. I sometimes say the ‘denuking’ of North Korea, and those are beautiful words,” Trump said in the video.

The clip isn’t the first produced by the White House in connection with the nuclear summit. The administration grabbed headlines by producing a propaganda-esque, movie trailer-style video directed at North Korea that paints Trump and Kim as two leaders on the cusp of greatness.

In the video released Friday, Trump says economic sanctions will remain in place, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will work with North Korea in the weeks ahead to craft the details of a denuclearization deal.

“This summit marked a new beginning for relations between the United States and North Korea and it opened the path for a future for all Koreans, north and south. The summit also made a clean break from the failed approaches of past administrations. And failed they were,” Trump said.

Trump was met with criticism this week after footage surfaced of him saluting a North Korean general. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters at a press briefing Thursday that it is “common courtesy” to salute a military official.

