- Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who’s now a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un got “on his hands and knees and begged” the president to move forward with a planned summit after Trump abruptly canceled it in late May.
- Giuliani’s comments about Kim could anger North Korea, given that it does not take kindly to any statements or actions that could be perceived as insulting or threatening toward its leader.
- Trump is set to meet with Kim in Singapore on Tuesday.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who’s now a lawyer for President Donald Trump, said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un begged the president to move forward with a planned summit after Trump abruptly canceled it in late May.
“Well, Kim Jong Un got back on his hands and knees and begged for it, which is exactly the position you want to put him in,” Giuliani said at an investment conference in Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
WATCH: Rudy Giuliani, President Trump's attorney in the Russia investigation, says Kim Jong Un "got back on his hands and knees and begged for" the resumption of the US-North Korea summit, "which is exactly the position you want to put him in." pic.twitter.com/n5WpKk4aCX
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 6, 2018
Giuliani also said Trump had canceled the meeting because of aggressive comments by the North Korean government.
"They also said they were going to go to nuclear war with us, they were going to defeat us in a nuclear war," Giuliani said, according to The Journal. "We said we're not going to have a summit under those circumstances."
Business Insider reached out to Giuliani for clarification on his comments in Israel, asking whether he had direct knowledge that Kim literally begged Trump to hold the summit.
"No, it is my speculation," Giuliani responded.
On May 24, Trump canceled the meeting with Kim, citing "tremendous anger and open hostility" in recent statements toward the US from the North Korean government. A day earlier, a North Korean official insulted Vice President Mike Pence and threatened the US with a "nuclear showdown."
After Trump canceled the meeting, however, North Korea changed its tone and said it was willing to "sit down face-to-face with the US and resolve issues anytime and in any format."
Following a back-and-forth between the US and North Korea, Trump on Friday announced that the summit was back on. He's set to meet with Kim at the Capella Hotel in Singapore on Tuesday.
Giuliani's comments about Kim could make things awkward, given that North Korea does not take kindly to any statements or actions that could be perceived as insulting or threatening toward its leader.
North Korea's UN mission in New York did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Giuliani's statements.