U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes South Korean President Lee Jae Myung at 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 at the White House for the first time Monday with South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae Myung.
Lee sang Trump’s praises during the sitdown, which came weeks after their nations reached a trade deal that capped tariffs on South Korea’s exports to the U.S. at 15%.
He asked for Trump’s help in establishing a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“I look forward to your meeting with Chairman Kim Jong Un,” Lee said, according to a translator in the Oval Office.
Lee even floated the idea of a Trump Tower being built in North Korea, and Trump and Kim playing golf together.
Trump said he had a “great relationship” with Kim and that he looks “forward to meeting” with him in “the appropriate future.”
“We can do big progress with North Korea,” Trump added.
Trump was asked by a reporter whether Lee and Kim could also meet.
“That’d be interesting,” Trump said.
“We’ll arrange a meeting between you and Kim Jong-un. Would you like that?” Trump asked Lee, who took office in June after a snap election. Trump’s question drew laughter from others in 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 meeting with Lee came hours after the American president painted South Korea as a nation in turmoil, writing on social media that the country appears to be experiencing a “purge” or a “revolution.”
“We can’t have that and do business there,” Trump said on Truth Social before Lee arrived at the White House.
Asked about that post before the meeting, Trump told 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 said. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. I’ll be finding out.”
Investigators in South Korea in recent weeks have conducted searches at churches and the Osan Air Base as part of a probe into South Korea’s former first lady, Kim Keon Hee, on corruption charges. Osan Air Base is operated by the air forces of both the United States and South Korea.
During this meeting with Lee, Trump took a much softer tone.
“It didn’t sound to me like South Korea,” he said of the raids.
The meeting took place amid lingering questions about the two countries’ trading relationship.
The 15% tariff rate that Trump announced was lower than the 25% rate he previously threatened. But leaders in South Korea have expressed a willingness to continue negotiations.
“I hear they want to renegotiate the deal, but that’s OK, I don’t mind that,” Trump said at the beginning of the meeting.
“That doesn’t mean they’re going to get anything, but I don’t mind,” he continued.
After Lee departed the White House, Trump said he thinks his trade deal with South Korea is done.
“They had some problems with it, but we stuck to our guns,” Trump told reporters during an unrelated event.
“They’re going to make the deal that they agreed to make.”
