Trump posts 'unfriendly' Kim Jong Un photo and reveals what the picture misses

WASHINGTON,DC: President Donald Trump appears to have noticed that one particular photo of him standing beside Kim Jong Un does not exactly capture the warmest-looking moment between the two leaders.

Trump shared the stern-faced image on Saturday, August 15 but quickly added that the expression was hardly representative of their relationship.

Trump says he gets along with Kim Jong Un

In the photograph, Trump and Kim are standing side by side outdoors at what appears to be the Korean Demilitarized Zone that President visited in 2019.

Trump is dressed in a dark navy suit with a white shirt and bright red tie, while Kim is wearing his familiar dark, high-collared suit. Neither man is smiling.

Trump appears to be looking toward Kim, while Kim looks straight ahead with a notably stern expression. 

It is, in other words, not exactly the photograph someone would choose if they wanted to capture two leaders looking like old friends enjoying a casual reunion.

But Trump clearly wasn't ready to let one serious-looking picture tell the entire story.

“Despite the unfriendly look on this particular picture, there are many where we’re smiling, Kim Jong Un and I get along GREAT!” Trump wrote alongside the photograph.

US-North Korea relations

Trump’s description of his relationship with Kim Jong Un dates back to his first presidency, when the two leaders held three closely watched meetings that marked an unusual period of direct engagement between Washington and Pyongyang.

Their first summit took place in Singapore in June 2018, becoming the first meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

The encounter drew global attention as Trump and Kim discussed North Korea’s nuclear program, sanctions and the possibility of improving relations.

The two leaders met again in Hanoi in February 2019.

That summit ended abruptly without a deal, with disagreements over sanctions relief and North Korea’s denuclearization efforts preventing the talks from producing an agreement.

Several months later, Trump and Kim met at Panmunjom, where Trump made history by becoming the first sitting US president to cross the Military Demarcation Line and step into North Korea. 

The moment became one of the most striking images of their unusual diplomatic relationship.

Although negotiations between the two countries later stalled, Trump has repeatedly spoken positively about his personal relationship with Kim.

He has often portrayed their direct communication as an important part of his approach to North Korea, even as diplomatic efforts failed to deliver a lasting agreement.

His latest post continued that pattern. 

While the future of the bilateral ties remains uncertain, Trump’s latest comments suggest he continues to place considerable importance on the rapport he says he developed with Kim.