Trump on Kim Jong Un: 'We fell in love after beautiful letters'
The US president reveals his growing closeness to the North Korean leader following their meeting in Singapore in June.
Sunday 30 September 2018 13:04, UK
Donald Trump has told a cheering crowd that he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "fell in love".
During a campaign rally in West Virginia, the US president said: "He wrote me beautiful letters and they're great letters. We fell in love."
Mr Trump joked about the criticism he would receive following his positive comments about the North Korean dictator, saying some would consider it "unpresidential".
Putting on the voice of a news reader, he said: "Why has President Trump given up so much?"
He then added: "I didn't give up anything."
In June, Mr Trump met with the North Korean leader in Singapore as part of an attempt to push his regime into denuclearisation.
The leaders shook hands at least nine times during the summit, with Mr Trump describing the North Korean dictator as "very talented."
They signed a joint statement with agreements including security guarantees for North Korea, new peaceful relations and the intention to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.
During the West Virginia rally, Mr Trump told supporters that Mr Kim is interested in a second meeting.
"We're doing great with North Korea," he said.
"We were going to war with North Korea. Millions of people would have been killed. Now we have this great relationship."
He claimed his growing closeness to Mr Kim has resulted in the end of rocket tests, helped free hostages and is getting the remains of American servicemen returned home.
Despite this, negotiations between the US and North Korea have stalled since the Singapore summit.
On Saturday, North Korea's top diplomat Ri Yong Ho told the UN that Pyongyang doesn't see a "corresponding response" from the US to its proposals to disarm.
He said the US is instead maintaining sanctions to keep up the pressure on the regime.