North Korea’s Kim is ‘starting to respect’ America: Donald Trump

President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is beginning to respect the US, the latest comments that suggest his administration is moving closer to seeking talks over Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal.

“I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us,” Trump said of Kim at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona on Tuesday evening. “Maybe, probably not, something positive will come out of it.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson went out of his way earlier on Tuesday to note that North Korea hadn’t carried out “provocative acts” since the UN Security Council imposed new sanctions on the country.

“I am pleased to see that the regime in Pyongyang has certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that we have not seen in the past,” Tillerson told reporters at the State Department. “Perhaps we are seeing our pathway to sometime in the near future having some dialogue.” The comments by Tillerson, the top US diplomat, were far more conciliatory than previous warnings from Trump.