Trump says he'll be able to solve 'most' problems related to N. Korea, Iran via 'phone calls'

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Friday he will be able to solve "most of the problems" related to North Korea and Iran through "phone calls" and possibly in-person talks, as he commented on Pyongyang's rare disclosure of a nuclear facility and Tehran's supply of missiles to Russia.

Trump highlighted his foreign policy chops during a press conference as various polls have shown the former president and his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, in a close race for the White House with the general election less than two months away.

"I'll be able to make phone calls and solve most of the problems," he said during the press availability at his golf club near Los Angeles. "I may actually have to meet a couple of times."

He was responding to a question of how he would address issues concerning America's potential adversaries, including the North's disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility this week and Iran's purported shipment of ballistic missiles to Russia, if reelected in November.

As he did in his presidential debate with Harris on Tuesday, Trump cited Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as telling him that "everybody was afraid of Trump."

"He said China was afraid, Russia was afraid, North Korea was afraid," Trump said.

When it comes to North Korean issues, Trump has boasted about his rapport and exchange of "love letters" with leader Kim Jong-un, stoking speculation that if he returns to the White House, he could revive his personal diplomacy with Kim.

Harris, however, said that she would not "cozy up to tyrants and dictators" like Kim, raising expectations that should she win the Oval Office, she would focus on cementing a network of US alliances and strengthen deterrence against North Korean threats. (Yonhap)