Trump Says Kim Jong Un Has a ‘Pretty Large’ Nuclear Arsenal

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un possesses a “pretty large” nuclear capability, while again emphasizing his personal relationship with the North Korean leader.

Trump made the comments at the White House while responding to questions about why North Korea can maintain nuclear weapons while he has opposed Iran acquiring them.

“As long as I am around, he’s going to be fine,” Trump said, arguing that Kim respects and likes him and describing the North Korean leader as a personal friend.

Trump also acknowledged that North Korea has developed a substantial nuclear capability, saying its arsenal is “not like us” but is nevertheless significant and has continued to grow.

The president blamed previous U.S. administrations for allowing Pyongyang’s nuclear program to develop, arguing that earlier governments had opportunities to prevent North Korea from building such an arsenal.

Trump’s latest comments come more than a month after he publicly claimed that North Korea possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons, an unusually specific figure for a U.S. president.

At the time, Trump also said he expected to meet Kim later this year, potentially reviving the direct diplomacy that produced three meetings between the two leaders during Trump’s first presi

Independent assessments have produced varying estimates. SIPRI estimated earlier this year that North Korea had approximately 60 assembled warheads and enough fissile material to potentially produce additional weapons.

A Congressional Research Service assessment cited by Reuters previously referenced estimates that North Korea may have assembled around 50 warheads while possessing enough fissile material for as many as 90.

South Korean assessments have also varied considerably. Yonhap reported in August that South Korea’s defense minister cited an estimate of approximately 80 to 120 nuclear weapons, while acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding the exact figure.

The differing estimates reflect the difficulty of assessing North Korea’s secretive nuclear infrastructure, including its production of fissile material, warhead assembly and possible deployment capabilities.

Trump’s latest description therefore adds political significance to an arsenal whose precise size remains uncertain, rather than establishing a newly verified weapons count.

The comments also come as Pyongyang has continued publicly rejecting international demands that it abandon its nuclear weapons program and has described its nuclear status as irreversible.

On September 17, North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il said Pyongyang would continue strengthening its nuclear deterrent and described the country’s nuclear status as irreversible.

Those remarks followed statements from Kim Yo Jong rejecting renewed international calls for denuclearization and insisting that North Korea’s nuclear position had become permanently established.

Recent satellite imagery has also indicated construction activity at the Yongbyon nuclear complex, where analysts identified an expansion near an existing uranium-enrichment facility.

NK News reported that the new construction appeared rapidly during September, adding to evidence that North Korea continues investing in infrastructure connected to its nuclear weapons production capabilities.

The developments create a difficult backdrop for any potential Trump-Kim meeting, particularly because negotiations during Trump’s first term ultimately stalled over disagreements surrounding North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

Trump has nonetheless continued emphasizing his personal relationship with Kim and has expressed interest in reopening direct communication with Pyongyang.

In August, Trump said he planned to meet Kim later in 2026, although North Korea has not publicly confirmed that a summit has been scheduled.

The possibility of renewed talks has attracted attention across the region, particularly in South Korea and Japan, where officials continue monitoring North Korea’s expanding missile and nuclear capabilities.

Trump’s latest comments suggest that any future engagement could take place against the backdrop of a substantially developed North Korean nuclear arsenal rather than an early-stage weapons program.

The diplomatic process broke down in 2019 after negotiations failed to produce agreement over sanctions relief and the scope and timing of North Korea’s nuclear dismantlement.

Since then, Pyongyang has expanded its weapons capabilities while repeatedly declaring that its nuclear forces are essential to national security.

The Trump administration has continued using denuclearization as its stated policy objective, even as Trump himself has increasingly referred to North Korea as a nuclear power.

That language has raised questions about whether future negotiations could focus more heavily on managing the existing arsenal rather than pursuing immediate elimination of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

For now, however, no formal summit between Trump and Kim has been announced, and North Korean officials have not publicly confirmed recent direct communications described by Trump.

Regional governments are also watching closely as North Korea continues developing nuclear and missile capabilities while Washington maintains security relationships with Seoul and Tokyo.

Trump’s comments have therefore placed renewed attention on both the size of North Korea’s arsenal and the broader question of how Washington intends to approach Pyongyang.

Any future negotiations would likely have to address North Korea’s existing nuclear stockpile, weapons production infrastructure, missile capabilities and the security concerns of neighboring countries.

For Trump, the latest remarks reinforce his long-standing argument that his personal relationship with Kim could provide an avenue for direct diplomacy despite the continuing nuclear dispute.

The coming months could determine whether those diplomatic ambitions translate into another Trump-Kim meeting, while North Korea continues strengthening the nuclear capabilities that remain at the center of the confrontation.