Trump tells South Korean leader he’s open to talks with Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump expressed a willingness to hold talks with North Korea during a call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to a White House readout released Wednesday.

Trump told Moon during the Tuesday exchange that he’d consider having a dialogue with North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, “at the appropriate time, under the right circumstances,” the readout said.


The president had said separately over the weekend that he would be open to diplomacy during a news conference with lawmakers at Camp David.

“Sure, I always believe in talking,” Trump said when pressed on the possibility Saturday.

But the president added that the talks wouldn’t necessarily be held without preconditions, saying Kim “knows I’m not messing around.”

“At the same time, if we can come up with a very peaceful and very good solution, we’re working on it,” Trump added.

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The White House said Moon also thanked Trump for his leadership in bringing about recent diplomatic talks between South Korea and North Korea, the first of such kind in over two years. Moon reportedly said Trump deserved significant credit for the dialogue.

The president took credit himself for the diplomatic developments in the Korean Peninsula last Thursday.

“With all of the failed ‘experts’ weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total ‘might’ against the North,” Trump tweeted. “Fools, but talks are a good thing!”