Trump says he may meet Kim Jong Un during Asia trip, as North Korea fires missiles

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U.S. President Donald Trump has said he may meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his trip to Asia next month, raising the possibility of renewed summit diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang. Trump made the remark at the White House on Monday when asked whether he planned to see Kim during the visit.

“I may,” Trump told reporters. “That’ll be exciting, won’t it? But I get along with him.”

Trump is scheduled to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila on November 16, followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, on November 18–19. Neither Washington nor Pyongyang has announced a meeting, and Trump did not specify where or when it could take place.

The president has repeatedly said he wants to meet Kim before the end of 2026. A meeting during the Asia trip would be their first since Trump’s first term, when the two leaders met three times: in Singapore in 2018, Hanoi in 2019, and at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom.

The statement came as North Korea continued missile testing. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Pyongyang fired multiple ballistic missiles off its east coast on Monday, its fourth ballistic missile launch in roughly a month.

North Korean state media also reported that Kim visited a defence-industry museum displaying weapons including the Hwasong-20 intercontinental ballistic missile, which Pyongyang says can reach the United States.

Trump’s outreach to Kim comes amid tensions with South Korea. In August, he ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises, saying he was frustrated that Seoul had not supported U.S. operations against Iran and arguing that the drills sent an “inappropriate signal” to North Korea.

The annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise was reportedly reduced from 11 days to five. Trump has also pressed Seoul over trade and investment issues, adding to friction between the longtime allies.

Analysts say a Trump-Kim meeting could reopen direct diplomacy after years without a nuclear agreement, but major obstacles remain: North Korea’s advancing weapons programme, sanctions, and the lack of any confirmed negotiating framework. For now, Trump’s comment signals willingness rather than a settled plan.