Trump says Kim Jong-un has responded to proposal for dialogue

US President Donald Trump affirmed on Monday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has responded to his proposal for dialogue. Following his directive to substantially reduce joint South Korea-US military exercises the previous day, Trump's statement implies that Washington and Pyongyang have had contact, sparking speculation about a potential meeting between the two leaders.

While addressing press questions following a White House event honoring a teen lifeguard, Trump defended CNN reporter Kristen Holmes' inquiry about Kim's response, asserting, "How do you know he hasn’t responded?" Trump claimed the stage of bilateral dialogue to be "very positive" without providing details on when or how Kim responded, nor whether they had communicated prior to the reduction of exercises.

On Sunday, Trump announced via his social media platform, Truth Social, that he ordered Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to "substantially reduce" joint exercises with Seoul, citing the drills as both expensive and inappropriate towards North Korea, which has been "unthreatening and respectful" under his administration. Trump claimed the order to reduce the exercises is his first confirmed conciliatory act toward Pyongyang since taking office, stating, "No, just the opposite, I’m making it much safer."

Trump emphasized his positive relationship with Kim, stating, "Kim Jong-un has always treated me with great respect, and we met on numerous occasions, actually, two primary occasions," and added, "He didn’t like Biden, he didn’t like Obama, he didn’t like anybody, but I get along with him very well." Analyst Victor Cha suggested that Trump's reduction of drills may aim to prevent North Korea from conducting additional intercontinental ballistic missile or nuclear tests and facilitate renewed engagement with Kim.

Trump's actions may also be driven by frustration over the lack of a clear exit strategy from the Iran war and South Korea's reluctance to assist US military operations in Iran, despite the US maintaining 28,500 troops in the country as per the official count.