President Donald Trump indicated he believed North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un was sincere about pushing for peace and announcing his interest in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.
“No. I don’t think he’s playing,” Trump said, praising the progress made in the North and South Korea peace process so far.
The president commented on the process after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Friday.
Jong-un met with South Korean president Moon Jae-in, signing a joint statement to end the Korean War and to denuclearize the region.
Trump said he understood skepticism about Jong-un’s intentions, pointing to the history of American presidents failing to deliver lasting peace in the region.
“Yeah I agree, the United States has been played beautifully like a fiddle, because you’ve had a different kind of a leader,” he said. “We’re not going to be played O.K.? We’re going to hopefully make a deal, if we don’t that’s fine.”
Trump also praised China’s President Xi Jinping, calling him “extremely helpful to me” on the ongoing negations.
“This isn’t like past administrations – we don’t play games,” Trump said.