U.S. President Donald Trump, right, speaks to the press as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 13. AFP-Yonhap

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday expressed his desire to reestablish the relationship that he had with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during his first term, boasting that he "got along great" with the reclusive leader and still has a "great" relationship with him.

During a press availability, Trump made the remarks, describing the North Korean leader as a "nuclear power" with "a lot of nuclear weapons," as his administration is pursuing the goal of the "complete denuclearization" of North Korea.

"Well, I would," Trump said, responding to a reporter's question of whether he has a plan to reestablish the relationship he had under his first presidential mandate.

"I had a great relationship with Kim Jong-un (of) North Korea. If I wasn't elected, if Hillary got in, you would have had a nuclear war with North Korea," he added, as he sat next to North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House for talks.

His remarks added to expectations that he would seek to revive his direct personal diplomacy with Kim, which led to three meetings between the two — the first in Singapore in June 2018, another in Hanoi in February 2019 and the other in the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom in June 2019.

Days after his inauguration in January, Trump said he will reach out to Kim again, calling the ruler a "smart guy," though speculation persisted that Pyongyang's appetite for engagement with Washington might have lessened as it has relied on Moscow for food, fuel, military support and other help.

Trump claimed he continues to maintain a good relationship with Kim.

"I have a great relationship with Kim Jong-un, and we'll see what happens," he said. "But certainly, he's a nuclear power."

In this June 30, 2019, file photo, U.S. President Donald Trump, left, meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at the North Korean side of the border at the village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone. AP-Yonhap

It is not the first time that he has depicted North Korea as a nuclear power — a term that U.S. officials had mostly refrained from publicly using given that the term could be construed as a U.S. recognition of Pyongyang's possession of nuclear weapons.

Shortly after his inauguration on Jan. 20, he used the term to refer to North Korea, spawning speculation about his intentions behind the nuclear power labeling. Speculation eased later as the White House said his administration is pursuing the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

Highlighting his hope to bring down the number of nuclear weapons in the world, Trump pointed out North Korea's sizable nuclear arsenal.

"Kim Jong-un has a lot of nuclear weapons by the way ... a lot and others do also," he said. "You have India. You have Pakistan. You have others that have them."

The president credited the first Trump administration with South Korea's successful hosting of the Olympics, where North Korea partook, apparently in reference to the PyeongChang Olympics held in February 2018.

"They (North Koreans) asked for a meeting. And then we met. And the meeting caused the Olympics, which was South Korea, to become a tremendous success," he said.

"Nobody was buying tickets for the Olympics because they didn't want to be nuked, and I met and not only did the Olympics become successful, but North Korea participated in the Olympics ... That was something that was an achievement of the Trump administration ... great achievement."

It is unclear what meeting he referred to as his first summit with Kim took place in June 2018 months after the Olympics. (Yonhap)