Standing alongside South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on Monday, Trump surprised reporters by expressing his eagerness to see Kim again. “I look forward to seeing him,” Trump said, recalling his earlier summits. “He was very good with me. We got along great.”

That relationship is one of the most remarkable diplomatic twists in modern times. Trump, who famously mocked Kim as “Little Rocket Man” in 2017, went on to meet him three times in his first term. Those summits included the historic moment in June 2019 when Trump stepped across the DMZ into North Korea — the first sitting U.S. president ever to do so. “Remember when I walked across the line and everyone went crazy?” Trump asked with a grin, stressing that his bond with Kim made even that heavily armed moment feel safe.

Trump said he knows Kim better than almost anyone — joking that only Kim’s sister might rival his understanding. Despite critics warning that Trump was too friendly with a brutal dictator, his supporters argue that the personal connection lowered tensions and kept nuclear tests at bay. Indeed, North Korea has not conducted a nuclear detonation since September 2017, something Trump credits to his diplomacy.

Still, not everything has been smooth. The much-anticipated Hanoi summit in 2019 ended abruptly when Kim demanded total sanctions relief before even discussing denuclearization. “Sometimes you have to walk,” Trump said at the time, noting he and Kim still parted amicably. Since then, North Korea has continued missile development and military cooperation with Russia, but nuclear tests remain on hold.

Trump’s comments this week came as Kim was once again ratcheting up rhetoric, blasting U.S.-South Korea military exercises as a “will to provoke war” and calling for an expansion of his nuclear arsenal. Analysts fear North Korea may be working on new missile systems, possibly with Russian assistance, and even a new class of warships designed to carry nuclear weapons.

South Korea’s new leader Lee Jae-myung, who took office in June, has also signaled he wants dialogue restored. He has taken small steps, such as halting loudspeaker broadcasts along the DMZ, though Pyongyang has largely ignored the gestures. Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, mocked Lee’s moves earlier this month, insisting that North Korea has “no will to improve relations” and even hinting that Pyongyang’s constitution could soon be rewritten to permanently define South Korea as a hostile state.

Even so, Trump sees an opening. In April, he praised Kim as a “very smart guy” and said he’d like to “do something at some point” with him during this term. Monday’s remarks confirmed he’s still thinking that way. Whether Kim reciprocates or simply uses Trump’s outreach as leverage remains an open question.

For now, Trump is leaving the door wide open. His view is simple: personal diplomacy works, and he alone can manage it. “I’m not supposed to say I really like him a lot because if I do that, I get killed in the fake news media,” Trump joked. “But I got along with him very well.”

What happens next will depend on whether Kim is willing to step back toward negotiations — and whether Trump’s unconventional approach can once again defuse tensions that many believed were spiraling toward war not long ago.