Another day, another high-profile visitor to the White House—this time around, it was South Korea's new president, Lee Jae Myung, who was elected back in June. On the agenda was North Korea, denuclearization, trade, and ship building.
In a scene that's becoming familiar in the Trump 2.0 White House, with the president having hosted several foreign dignitaries over the past seven months, President Trump first greeted President Lee at the West Wing driveway, then ushered his guest into the Oval Office for a gaggle with the media. To their credit, the assembled press seemed far less manic than they were at last week's meeting between Trump and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky.
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Things kicked off with President Trump giving his unique perspective of the progression of relations with both North and South Korea from his first term, through the Biden administration, and now his second term. Trump was sure to emphasize his prior friendly relationship with North Korea's Kim Jong Un, while also noting he feels "very warmly toward South Korea."
HAPPENING NOW: President Trump meets with the South Korean president at the White House — addressing his relationship with ‘Rocket Man’ Kim Jong Un. pic.twitter.com/CddTMe9ccg
— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 25, 2025
Of course, discussing trade was a top priority. The United States and South Korea agreed last month to the outline of a deal that could result in South Korea investing hundreds of billions of dollars in business with the United States. Of particular interest to President Trump is shipbuilding, both in South Korea and the United States. Trump would clearly like to see the U.S. return to its glory days of shipbuilding.
.@POTUS: "It's an honor to be with President Lee of South Korea... We're going to have some very serious discussions about different things, including trade." pic.twitter.com/j0O1SMokqQ
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025
TRUMP: We're going to have some very serious discussions about different things, including trade—we do a lot trade with South Korea, as you know. We are thinking about contracting some ships, they build them very well in South Korea.
They're also thinking about coming to our country with some shipyards to start us on the process of building ships again. In World War II, we'd build a ship a day, and, today, we don't build ships anymore. Which is ridiculous, we're going to start that again.
And, of course, it wouldn't be a Trump presser without a dig at Joe Biden, a sentiment with which President Lee seemed happy to agree.
President Lee Jae Myung tells @POTUS that the situation on the Korean peninsula was "stable" during his first term, but that North Korea further developed its nuclear capabilities under Biden.
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 25, 2025
"They would not have done that if I were President."
"I completely agree with you." pic.twitter.com/2l2fFEKmig
One thing Trump and Lee have in common is both were targets of assassination attempts in 2024. Trump, of course, was shot in the ear at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July of 2024, followed by another, luckily thwarted this time, assassination attempt that September at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
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On January 2, 2024, Lee, who was not yet president, was stabbed in the neck while talking with reporters at a construction site in Busan, South Korea. The attacker, who had approached Lee pretending to want an autograph, was able to slice Lee's jugular vein, which required emergency surgery.
During Monday's remarks, President Trump said he looked forward to meeting again with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un “in the appropriate future."
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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