Trump calls Kim Jong Un a ‘friend’ and plays down N Korea’s nuclear arsenal

US president’s comments came after he was asked why North Korea can have nuclear weapons when Iran cannot.Published On 30 Sep 202630 Sep 2026United States President Donald Trump has described North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “a friend” and played down concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal, saying, “as long as I’m around, he’s going to be fine”.Trump made the remarks in Washington, DC, on Tuesday after a reporter asked him why North Korea could have nuclear weapons but Iran could not.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3North Korea deploys warship ‘capable of annihilating retaliatory strikes’list 2 of 3North Korea fires ballistic missiles off eastern coast, Seoul sayslist 3 of 3North Korea dismisses UN nuclear watchdog resolutionend of list“That’s interesting. You know why? Because you had a different president, and they could have stopped him,” he said, referring to previous US administrations.“He happens to be a friend of mine, Kim Jong Un, he’s a friend of mine. He likes Trump, doesn’t like a lot of other people. I’m about the only person in the entire world that he likes, and I like him,” he said.He said North Korea’s nuclear capacity was “pretty large” but “not ...