▲ U.S. President Donald Trump walks to speak to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington before boarding Marine One on Oct. 2, 2026, in this photo released by the Associated Press. (Yonhap)

By Chang Dong-woo

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he "gets along great" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as he stressed the importance of maintaining good relations with leaders of nuclear-armed nations.

Trump made the remarks during a campaign rally in Ohio ahead of the U.S. midterm elections while discussing his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping and defending his ties with leaders of major powers.

"I get along great with Kim Jong-un," Trump said, adding, "Isn't it nice to get along with the leaders of massive nations, massive nuclear nations?"

In August, Trump said that he hopes to meet Kim later this year, adding to speculation that he might seek to rekindle his personal diplomacy with Kim that led to three bilateral in-person meetings: the first in Singapore in June 2018, the second in Hanoi in February 2019 and the last at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.

Tommy Pigott, spokesperson for the State Department, said Friday that Trump does not view talks with North Korea as a "concession" and is willing to engage Pyongyang if doing so serves U.S. national interests.

At the rally, Trump also said it is good to get along with someone when that person has "112 nuclear missiles" without elaborating on what the figure represented.

In August, Trump claimed North Korea possessed 57 nuclear weapons, leaving unclear what exactly the latest figure he mentioned referred to.

Trump's latest remarks came as North Korea has continued to reject calls for denuclearization and insisted that its status as a nuclear weapon state is "irreversible."

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