← Videos · Foreign Policy & Defense

Trump Participates in a Dinner Hosted by the President of the Republic of Korea, Oct. 29, 2025

October 29, 2025 · The White House · 0:06:03

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump delivered remarks at a dinner hosted by President Lee Jae Myung of the Republic of Korea in Gyeongju on October 29, 2025, with the heads of state attending the APEC gathering at the table. “We had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea,” the President said. “We pretty much finalized a trade deal and we discussed some other things having to do with national security… I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items.” He said the Japan trade deal had likewise been concluded, “a very big trade deal… great for both countries,” as he described it.

The President thanked President Lee for “giving me the honor of that magnificent piece of art… to be the first president of the United States that got that was really something very special” — the Grand Order of Mugunghwa honor conferred earlier that day. On North Korea, he said: “You have a little bit of a cloud over your country and we’re going to get that cloud solved. You have a neighbor that hasn’t been as nice as they could be and I think they will be. I know Kim Jong-un very well.” He looked ahead to the next morning’s meeting with President Xi of China and put investment into the United States at “over 17 trillion, probably up to 18 trillion dollars,” with markets at new highs “48 times” in nine months, as he stated the figures.

Why it matters

The dinner remarks are where the President announced the Korea trade deal’s completion in his own words — at the host’s table, on the eve of the Xi meeting — and they carry his first public reaction to the Mugunghwa honor and his “cloud” formulation on North Korea.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s October 29, 2025 statement that the U.S.–Korea trade deal was “pretty much finalized,” and his pledge that the North Korea “cloud” will be solved. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Dinner Hosted by the President of the Republic of Korea” (official upload, embedded above; Gyeongju, South Korea). Remarks and figures as delivered at the dinner.