In the wake of a historic summit between North Korea and the United States, ABC landed President Donald Trump’s first sit-down broadcast interview in more than a year.
Anchor George Stephanopoulos sat down with Trump in Singapore early Tuesday morning, with the interview airing on ABC’s Good Morning America hours later. During the 13-minute conversation, Trump said that he trusts North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who vowed to completely denuclearize his country, according to Trump.
Later in the interview, Stephanopoulos reminded Trump that he accused Kim of starving his people just several months ago. The anchor described the North Korean leader as a “brutal dictator” who “runs a police state” and labor camps. “How do you trust a killer like that?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“George, I’m given what I’m given, okay?” Trump responded. “I mean, this is what we have, and this is where we are, and I can only tell you from my experience, and I met him, I’ve spoken with him, and I’ve met him.”
“I think that he really wants to do a great job for North Korea,” Trump added. “I think he wants to denuke, it’s very important. Without that, there’s nothing to discuss. That was on the table at the beginning, and you see a total denuclearization of North Korea — so important. And, he wants to do the right thing.”
Trump, reiterating his trust of Kim, said: “I do trust him, yeah. Now, will I come back to you in a year and you’ll be interviewing and I’ll say, gee I made a mistake? That’s always possible. You know, we’re dealing at a very high level, a lot of things can change, a lot of things are possible.”
Tuesday’s summit in Singapore marked the first time a sitting U.S. president met a leader of North Korea. The unprecedented meeting came after decades of hostility between the two countries. Following the summit’s conclusion, Kim said, “The world will see a major change.”