President Donald Trump said Tuesday he does indeed "trust" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"I do," he said when asked by CNN's Jim Acosta if he trusts Kim. "I do. I think he wants to get it done."
Watch the exchange:
By Veronica Rocha, Brian Ries, Ben Westcott, Meg Wagner and Amanda Wills, CNN
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he does indeed "trust" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
"I do," he said when asked by CNN's Jim Acosta if he trusts Kim. "I do. I think he wants to get it done."
Watch the exchange:
President Trump said he's confident that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "will live up to" the document that they both signed.
"I don't think they have ever had the confidence in a president they have right now for getting things done and ability to get things done," Trump said.
"He was very firm in the fact that he wants to do this -- I think he might want to do this as much or even more than me. They see a bright future for North Korea. So you never know, right."
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
President Trump praised Kim Jong Un's ability to run a country at a young age when pressed about his comments about Kim's brutal tactics.
"He is very talented," Trump said, citing Kim's ability to "take over a situation like he did at 26 years of age and run it, and run it tough."
Speaking at a news conference following his historic summit, President Trump said he hopes the Korean War will finally end, more than 70 years after it began.
"Nearly 70 years ago, think of that, 70 years ago, an extremely bloody conflict ravaged the Korean peninsula. Countless people died in the conflict, including tens of thousands of brave Americans. While the armistice was agreed to, the war never ended to this day, never ended. But now we can all have hope that it will soon end. And it will.
Trump continued: "The past does not have to define the future. Yesterday's conflict does not have to be tomorrow's war. And as history has proven over and over again, adversaries can, indeed, become friends."
At another summit in April, The leaders of North and South Korea pledged to bring a formal end to the Korean War, 65 years after hostilities ceased.
Watch:
From CNN's Jeremy Diamond
President Trump said Tuesday the United States will stop the "war games," an apparent reference to joint military exercises with South Korea that North Korea has long rebuked as provocative.
Trump also said he hopes to eventually withdraw US forces from South Korea, but said "that's not part of the equation right now."
"I want to get our soldiers out. I want to bring our soldiers back home," Trump said. "But that's not part of the equation right now. I hope it will be eventually."
Trump said he had agreed to stop the "war games" because he considers them "very provocative" and said it would save the United States "a tremendous amount of money."
President Trump responded to a question about North Korea's human rights, particularly Otto Warmbier, the American student who was imprisoned in North Korea and died upon repatriation to the US.
"It was a terrible thing, it was brutal, a lot of people started to focus on what was going on," including "in North Korea," Trump said in response to a question.
But he added: "Otto was someone who did not die in vain."
What Trump said:
Otto Warmbier is a very special person and he will be for a long time in my life. His parents are good friends of mine. I think without Otto, this would not have happened. Something happened from that day. It was a terrible thing. It was brutal. But a lot of people started to focus on what was going on, including North Korea. I really think that Otto is someone who did not die in vain. I told this to his parents. Special young man. And I have to say, special parents, special people. Otto did not die in vain. He had a lot to do with this.
On human rights, Trump added: “It was discussed, it will be discussed more in the future, human rights.” He also said that the remains of those who fought in the Korean War will be repatriated.
President Trump says Kim Jong Un told him that North Korea is destroying a major missile engine testing site.
"North Korea is already destroying a major missile engine testing site," Trump said.
The commitment was not included in the joint declaration the two men signed, but Trump said: "We agreed to that after the agreement was signed."
Trump also outlined the agreement that he and Kim signed earlier. He said Kim reaffirmed "his unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula."
Trump said Kim "wants to do that."
"This is not the past," he said. "This is not another administration that never got it started. And therefore never got it done."
President Trump is speaking to the press after his summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore. He took the stage after a well-produced video about Kim's unique chance at changing North Korea's path forward.
Trump said it was "a tape" that was given to Kim's representatives and it "captures a lot. It captures what can be done."
Trump said that the day was spent with “very intensive hours" with Kim that resulted in a “comprehensive document.” He says that he delivered a message of “hope… and peace.”
President Trump is expected to speak to the media at 4:00 p.m. local time (that's 4:00 a.m. ET for those of you still awake).
There's currently one podium in the room, which is already filling up with reporters.
We'll stream the event live in the player above.