U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 25, 2025.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
President Donald Trump bragged about his “great relationship” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as he met on the White House for the primary time Monday with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung.
Lee sang Trump’s praises throughout the sitdown, which got here weeks after their nations reached a commerce deal that capped tariffs on South Korea’s exports to the U.S. at 15%.
He requested for Trump’s assist in establishing a long-lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“I look forward to your meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” Lee mentioned, in keeping with a translator within the Oval Office.
Lee even floated the concept of a Trump Tower being inbuilt North Korea, and Trump and Kim taking part in golf collectively.
Trump mentioned he had a “great relationship” with Kim and that he appears to be like “forward to meeting” with him in “the appropriate future.”
“We can do big progress with North Korea,” Trump added.
Trump was requested by a reporter whether or not Lee and Kim might additionally meet.
“That’d be interesting,” Trump mentioned.
“We’ll arrange a meeting between you and Kim Jong-un. Would you like that?” Trump requested Lee, who took workplace in June after a snap election. Trump’s query drew laughter from others within the room.
“Look, I get along great with Kim Jong-un, and whatever I can do having to do with South Korea and getting people together, you should get together, right?”
Trump’s amicable assembly with Lee got here hours after the American president painted South Korea as a nation in turmoil, writing on social media that the nation seems to be experiencing a “purge” or a “revolution.”
“We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump mentioned on Truth Social earlier than Lee arrived on the White House.
Asked about that publish earlier than the assembly, Trump advised reporters, “Well, I heard that there were raids on churches over the last few days, very vicious raids on churches by the new government in South Korea, that they even went into our military base and got information.”
“They probably shouldn’t have done that, but I heard bad things,” Trump mentioned. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’ll be finding out.”
Investigators in South Korea in recent weeks have carried out searches at church buildings and the Osan Air Base as a part of a probe into South Korea’s former first girl, Kim Keon Hee, on corruption charges. Osan Air Base is operated by the air forces of each the United States and South Korea.
During this assembly with Lee, Trump took a a lot softer tone.
“It didn’t sound to me like South Korea,” he mentioned of the raids.
The assembly befell amid lingering questions concerning the two international locations’ buying and selling relationship.
The 15% tariff price that Trump introduced was decrease than the 25% price he beforehand threatened. But leaders in South Korea have expressed a willingness to proceed negotiations.
“I hear they want to renegotiate the deal, but that’s OK, I don’t mind that,” Trump mentioned in the beginning of the assembly.
“That doesn’t mean they’re going to get anything, but I don’t mind,” he continued.
After Lee departed the White House, Trump mentioned he thinks his commerce cope with South Korea is completed.
“They had some problems with it, but we stuck to our guns,” Trump advised reporters throughout an unrelated occasion.
“They’re going to make the deal that they agreed to make.”