President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is open to the possibility of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un visiting the White House.
"Are we close to seeing Mr. Kim here at the White House?" Fox News host Steve Doocey asked the president.
"It could happen, yeah, I would, yeah I think it is something that could happen," Trump said.
Trump added that Kim is strong and when he speaks, his people sit up at attention, saying he wants people in the United States to do the same.
"He is the head of a country and I mean he is the strong head. Don't let anyone think anything different. He speaks and his people sit up at attention," Trump said. "I want my people to do the same."
Immediately after his interview with Fox News, Trump was asked about the comment.
"I'm kidding. You don't understand sarcasm," Trump said. He went on to ask the reporter what network he is with. The reporter replied he was with CNN, to which Trump said the reporter the "worst."
In the wake of Tuesday's Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, Trump claimed North Korea was no longer a nuclear threat to the United States. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has yet to dispose of the country's nuclear weapons or its ballistic missiles that have the ability to strike the United States.
Trump became the first U.S. president to meet face-to-face with a North Korean head of state during the summit. The Trump administration has pushed for North Korea to denuclearize, while promising security and prosperity in return. The joint statement Trump and Kim signed gave few details on how the two countries will move forward with denuclearization of the peninsula.
"President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK and Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," the statement said.
Tump was asked when the sanctions on North Korea would be removed.
"When we can be sure there are no more nuclear?" Trump said. "We're close to getting it started. He [Kim] wants to do something great with this country. He wants to make his country great."
The president also claimed that his predecessor President Obama was "essentially ready" to go to war with North Korea.
"When I was talking to President Obama he essentially was ready to go to war with North Korea. He felt you almost had to go to war," Trump said. "I asked him, have you spoken to him. He said no. Do you think it would be a good thing to speak to him, maybe?"
There was no public indication during his presidency that Obama was preparing the U.S. military for war with North Korea.
Trump continued on to say a war with North Korea would be devastating.
"If you go to war there, you're not talking about 100,000 lives which is a lot, you're talking about 30, 40, 50 million lives. Seoul is 30 miles off the border. They don't need nuclear weapons to take out Seoul. They have thousands of cannons, they call them cannons, they have big guns, thousands pointed right at Seoul," Trump said.