18 years ago, Mr. Trump predicted that North Korea would have nuclear weapons.

In an interview from 1999, Mr. Donald Trump predicted that North Korea would possess nuclear weapons that could reach anywhere in the world.

Eighteen years ago, billionaire Donald Trump said that if he became US President, he would first negotiate with North Korea but would ultimately be ready to launch a preemptive strike if Pyongyang did not stop developing nuclear weapons.

Donald Trump interviewed on Meet the Press in 1999. Photo: Getty Images

“I would negotiate first,” Trump told Tim Russert on NBC News’ “Meet The Press.” “I would negotiate like crazy and I would make sure we get the best deal possible.”

The real estate mogul and reality TV star’s comments came shortly after he announced plans to form a group to run for president in 2000 under the Reform Party banner. But Donald Trump did not officially campaign under the party banner.

In that 1999 interview, Donald Trump also predicted that by 2004, North Korea would likely possess nuclear weapons capable of reaching anywhere in the world, especially the United States.

He also believes that nuclear proliferation is a bigger problem than issues that usually attract the attention of the American public, such as the economy or social security.

“The biggest problem this country faces is nuclear proliferation. We have a country out there called North Korea and they are not just idiots, they will rise up and they will develop nuclear weapons. They are not doing it for fun, they have their reasons.”

Mr. Donald Trump also declared that he was open to a preemptive nuclear strike if negotiations with North Korea failed, saying that this issue needed to be resolved before North Korea had enough “nuclear warheads to target everywhere.”

When running for US President in January 2016, Mr. Donald Trump said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un deserved praise for running the country at the age of 30 and making extremely tough decisions, even with his father's generals.

However, Mr. Donald Trump also emphasized that this proves that Mr. Kim Jong-un's threats should not be taken lightly.

“He’s not playing around and we can’t play around with him. Because he actually has missiles and now he has nuclear,” Mr. Donald Trump said.

Donald Trump’s old comments seem to be applicable to the current situation when North Korea threatens to attack the US island of Guam. Pyongyang is also believed to be trying to miniaturize nuclear warheads so that they can be integrated into an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the US mainland, which the country successfully tested last month./.

According to VOV