US President Donald Trump is pressing his aides to arrange a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as early as this fall, according to US officials cited Tuesday by The Wall Street Journal.
The reported effort would revive Trump's diplomatic push from his first term to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program. Trump has privately discussed meeting Kim during a planned Asia trip, potentially in November when world leaders are expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China.
South Korea supports renewed engagement between Washington and Pyongyang as a means of promoting regional stability. However, analysts and US officials have cautioned that an agreement viewed as unfavorable could damage Washington's relationships with key allies, including Seoul.
A White House official said Trump and Kim would meet at an appropriate time. North Korea's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also sought a meeting with Kim during an Asia trip last year. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he asked reporters to “put out the word" that he wanted to speak with the North Korean leader. US officials told the Journal that Pyongyang privately indicated it was receptive, but arranging a meeting at short notice proved impractical.
Trump later said holding such a meeting could have taken attention away from his planned talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Following a 100-minute meeting with Xi, Trump said it would have been “maybe disrespectful," adding, “I’d come back, with respect to Kim Jong Un."
The Wall Street Journal report followed Trump's Sunday announcement on Truth Social that he had ordered a significant reduction in joint US-South Korean military exercises. He cited his "very good relationship" with Kim as one reason for the decision.
"Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong Un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea. These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful," Trump stated in a post published on Truth Social.
"Therefore, and based on the fact that it is too late to cancel, I have instructed Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to substantially reduce the Joint Military Exercises! While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, 'No thanks!'," the President added.
Trump said Monday that Kim has responded to his diplomatic outreach. Asked in the Oval Office why Kim had not answered him, Trump responded, “How do you know he hasn’t responded?"
When pressed about whether contact had taken place, Trump said, “Um, yeah he has." He described the dialogue as "very positive" but did not elaborate.
Trump also emphasized his longstanding relationship with Kim, saying, "Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect and we met on numerous occasions, actually two primary occasions, spoken and spent time. I understand him. He understands me."
Trump and Kim held three high-profile meetings during Trump's first term, in Singapore, Hanoi and near the Korean border. Despite the unprecedented diplomacy, the summits failed to produce a concrete agreement on North Korea's nuclear program.
North Korea subsequently intensified its hostile rhetoric, particularly in 2024, and has carried out dozens of missile tests since then. Kim has continued to take an adversarial position toward South Korea and the United States.
In September 2025, Kim said he had "good memories" of Trump, while maintaining that North Korea will "never lay down our nuclear weapons."