‘I do trust him’: Trump reflects on Kim meeting Video

Transcript for ‘I do trust him’: Trump reflects on Kim meeting

Kim today but the president was eager to talk and we sat down right after they signed that agreement. We saw you sign theeement right in this room. You also said you developed a special bond. Describe it. We disssed things over the last few months You’ve spoken with him before. I have spoken, yes, to him and a lot his people. His his top person at the white house last week. So we developed a pretty good relationship in terms of getting something done. It’s a terrific document. A starter but a terrific document and there are things we negotied after that document that are very important. Like what. We’ll G rid of certain ballistic missile sites and put that out later but we ve the framk of getting ready to denuclearize — the phrase is complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Does that mean that the nuclear umbrella we have over south Korea is O the table for negotiations? No. We Nev discussed the other. They’ll get rid of them, George and I think they want to do it relatively quickly. They’ll start working on it immediately. We’ll work with South Korea and rk with Japan D work with China. But it really has been an incredible ee — Y’ve set the bar for nuclr agreemes by iticizing the Iran nuclear deal, said it’s theorst deal ever made. Does that mean thatny deal with North Korea has be tougher than the Iran deal. I don’t think a deal could be softer. We’re not paying $0 billion, okay, we’re paying nothing from that standpoint other than you will see what happens. Think there will be a great partnershiwith Japan and wit South Korea, president moon has been terrific. But Ty have to get — President Abe — They have to get rid ofll their nuclear weapons. Hey will, I think they will. I really believe that he will. I’ve gotten to knowim well in a short period of time. Did he tell you that. Yeah, denuke — he’s denuking the whole place and he’s going to start very quickly. I think he’s going to start now. They’ll announcing things over the nexfew days talking Abou other missile sites because there were, as you know, they wernding out a lot of missiles. There was a period of time WRE I was saying what are they doing? Every wee it seems another missile nt up. Are they getti rid of sites. Ise going to stop testing. He already has. We have how many mons has it been, George, seven where there’s been no missiles going up. He’s commit to not startinghat up again. He’s committed to Noto that. It won’t be happening. That won’t be happen. He means it. He really wants to something, I think, terrific for their country and is the only way it N be. How long is it going to take? You know, if you look at — if you talk to the experts you can’t just do it immediately. Some take period of years. Somebody said 15 years if you go rapidly but when you’re in a process of doing it you’re really dismantling. In other words, you can’t do anything during tt period of time but they have a process for gettg rid of nukes that does take –T’s not lik we’ll get rid of them tomorrow. It can’t be done scientically but they’ll do it. They’lart immediately. They’ve really already started and bl up a site which was T real deal site. That was their big site. They’ve blown it up. They’re getting rid of things that haven’t been mentioned in the document. They’re gettingid of certain missile areas and they’re not going to be sending missiles up. They’ll announce that and confirm it as well, these additional steps. Say it. The north Koreans are going to announce these additional step They’ll announce them very shortly. They mig have announced them already. This camefter we signed we agreed to that also and I’m doing something th I’ve wanted to do from the beginning. We stopped playing those war games that cost us a une. We’re spending a fortune every number of months we’re doing war games with South Korea and I said, what’s I costing? We’r bombing empty mountains for practice I said, I want to stop that and I will stop that and I think it’s very provocative especially, George, since we’re getting along. Did you talk about pulling troops out? Excuse me? Did you talk about pulling troops out? We didn’t discuss that, no. But we’re not going to play the wargames. You know, I wanted to stop the war games — ihought they were very provocative but I think they’re expense. I think they’re expensive to do it and hav T fly planes in from Guam. That’s 1/2 hours away. Big bomrs and everything else. I said, who is paying for this? I mean whos — in order to practice. What other kinds of security — One thing I suggested and want to do is we’reoing to stop the war games unless for some reason we’re unable to go furtherer. What other kinds of security guarantees did you offer? We’ve given him — I don’t want to talk AUT it specifically but we’ve given him — he’s going to be happy his country does love him. His people, Y see, the fervor, they have a great fervor. They’ll P it together and I think they’ll end up with a very strong country and a country which has people that — they’ so hard working, so industrious. If you look at South Korea someday maybe in the not too distt future it will be sothing — You say his people love him. Just a F months ago you accused him of starving his people. Here’s the rub. Kiis a brutal dictator. He rs a police state, forced starvaon, assassinated members of his ownfamily. How do you trust Aler like that. George I’m given what I’m given, ok 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 and this was as you know started early and it’s been very innse, I think that he Reay wants to do a great job for North Korea. Ink he wants tdenuke. It’s very important. Without that there’s nhing to diuss. That was ohe table at the beginning and you see a total denuclearization of North Korea, so important and he wants to do the right thing. Now, with all of that being said I can’t talk about, it doesn’t matter. We’re starting from scratch. We’re starting right now and we have to get rid of those nuclear weapons. How do you trust him, though? Is he willing to change? Do you believe he’s change Well, you know, over my lifetime’ve done a lot of deals with a lot of people and sometimes the people that you moststrust turn out to be the most honorable one and the people you do trust, they a not the honorable ones so we are starng from a very high plane. This has been a bigay in tms of the world. I think it’s been maybe a lot of people are saying — All calling it historic. Even my enemies are calling that. Nobody has met with the family. No presi has. No president has certainly and we’ve done something that we’re very proud of. It’s a very strong document. His father made agreements th the United States. And then said he was going to stop near weapons and backslid. Healks about that he said that there areeasons he didn’t because he was let down by the ited states. But that’ irrelevant. What he’soing and he very mu said that. He id, you know, over the years, first of all they’ve never gone this far and never been at a level like this and his fever dealt with a president and a lot of other th but he said — it’s very ch in his mind. He said, we are going to get this done. In the past we’ve tried but it never worked out and it never did work out and it was embarrassing actually to the United States. And to our leadership. Is is different. I believe you’ll find in the years tocome, George, I think you’ll find ts different. How are you going to know he’s keeping his word? He’s committed to this? We’re going to be following things. We’re going to be Moring things. We’re dealing with him very — on a constant basis. Secretary of state Mike Pompeo did a very, very good job, great energy and they have a great relationship. His counterpart. They have a really good relationship. They’re moving along. They’re getting ine. I’ve been up 24 hours now trait between phone calls and, you know, workingit. This is a very — look, this is 72 years we’re talking about and put it into one very intensive day and someeetings beforehand. But a lot of people look at Kim Jong-un and sa there is no way he is ever Ging up those nuclear weapons. That’s why hesurvives. That’s why he S in this room today. Well, ink we have to disagree, otherwise I wouldn’ be here or I would have respectfly, you know, I would have shaken his hand, I wld have said, listen, I’ll see you time but I wouldn’t have had any interest. No, it’s very important in the first paragraph and says complete total denuclearization without that I wouldn’t have been interested. I believe that he wants to get it done. You trust him? 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 mistake. That’s alway possible. Dealin a very hh level. A lot of things can change. He trusts me, I believe. I really do. He said openly and said it to a couple of reporters THA were with him that he knows that no other predent everould have donethis. I mean no other — he knows the presidents. He knowsho we had in front of me. He said no other president could have done this. I think he trts me and I trust him. Ronald Reagan sai trust but verify. Yeah. How do you verify this commitment. We’ll be verifying and working with them and it’s going be much more open than it is right now. Right now it’s obviously very closed it’s a closed society. We know verytle about — you know, if you a intelligence, they will tell you probably they know less about this area of the world than they do any place anywhere in the world. We’re going to be working very closely with them. ‘Ve developed great relationships at different lels. Mike Pompeo’s got really very good strong relationshipsnd others have also. To introduced them to John Bolton which was a very inresting thing and — He saysow do you know he’s lying, his lips are moving. I think they have good trust. When is Kim coming to the white house? We, I want to get it along. I want the process to start. I want to see some real work going on which I believe I will and I would love to have him at the white house, whatever it takes and would love to have him they white house and I think he’d love to be there. At certain poi WHE it’s complete I love to be there. And, guys, you can see from that interview — those exchges I had how much he is banking on this personal relationship with Kim Jong-un. What a contrast to the words he used about Kim Jong-un jt a few months ago. He says he trusts him. He says Kim Jong-un means it when H says he’s going to G rid of the nuclear weaps. Of course, we are all waiting to see if that’s really true, if Kim Jong-un is gng to do what his father didn’do, what his father didn’t do but right now we know that president trump is — beli that personal relationship has started something new between the U.S. And North Korea. Time will tell if he’s right. Time will tell. Obvious there does appear to be trust there. I know coming up you alsd with the president before coming — before going to Singapore. He was at the g7. A little bit different there than it is insingapore. Yeah, it’s been Dwight a strange few days because the president, even as he’s reaching out to Kim Jong-un, aworn enemy of the United States as the president just said for 65 years had sucharsh criticism for our allies including the Canadian pri minister Justin Trudeau who he called weak and said was makg false statements, I asked the president about that, pressed him about that. We’ll hear his explanation in the next half hour. Thanks very much. So we willave much more from George in Singapore.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.