Trump announces planned meeting with Kim Jong Un, publicly cites 57 nuclear weapons

President Trump said on August 19 that he plans to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year, publicly stating that Pyongyang possesses 57 “very powerful” nuclear weapons. The claim puts a specific number on one of the most closely guarded military secrets in the world, and it lands uncomfortably close to independent estimates. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute pegged North Korea’s assembled warheads at roughly 60 as of June 2026. Trump’s figure of 57 sits within that range. A summit redux, with higher stakes If it happens, this would be the first face-to-face between Trump and Kim during Trump’s second term, and the fourth overall. The two leaders met three times in 2018 and 2019, producing a joint statement on denuclearization in Singapore that, in hindsight, produced mostly photo opportunities. Trump framed the renewed outreach as a product of his personal relationship with Kim, which he has consistently described as positive. He said Kim had responded favorably to recent US diplomatic efforts, though Trump also offered a curious aside: North Korea “should have never allowed it to happen,” referring to its nuclear buildup. Pyongyang’s version o...