"If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it," Trump said Monday in an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg News. "If it's under the, again, under the right circumstances. But I would do that."

The U.S. has no diplomatic relations with North Korea, and as recently as last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at the United Nations that the U.S. would negotiate with Kim's regime only if it made credible steps toward giving up its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

"Most political people would never say that," Trump said of his willingness to meet with the reclusive Kim, "but I'm telling you under the right circumstances I would meet with him. We have breaking news."

Asked later about Trump's comments, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters that "clearly conditions are not there right now" for a meeting. He said "we've got to see their provocative behavior ratcheted down."