Kellyanne Conway said Trump called North Korea's dictator 'short and fat' because Kim Jong Un 'insulted him first'

ABC

Kellyanne Conway on ABC.

• Kellyanne Conway defended Trump's description of Kim Jong Un as "short and fat."
• Trump is on a weeks-long trip in Asia.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway defended President Donald Trump's description on Saturday of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as "short and fat."

"Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me 'old,' when I would NEVER call him 'short and fat?' Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!" Trump said on Twitter late Saturday evening.

Conway said Sunday on ABC News' "This Week" that the comments were part of Trump's attempt to contain a nuclear North Korea.

"That was the president just responding the way he does to someone who insulted him first," Conway said. "I look at the full context of his trip."

Several days earlier, North Korean state media dubbed Trump the "lunatic old man of the White House."

The president has sent mixed signals about how he plans to contain North Korea as it seeks to fully weaponize its nuclear arsenal.

He has repeatedly coupled insults of Un, calling him "Little Rocket Man," with threats of violence, suggesting the US would rain "fire and fury" onto North Korea if it continues to pursue an intercontinental ballistic missile program.

But the president has also said he is open to negotiating with North Korea, and said Sunday that he could become friends with the North Korean dictator.

"Strange things happen in life. That might be a strange thing that happens. But it is certainly a possibility," Trump said. "If that did happen, it would be a good thing for, I can tell you, for North Korea. But it would also be good for lots of other places, and it would be good for the world."

Following several provocative missile tests by North Korea this year, the Trump administration has attempted to pressure the dictatorship's major trading partners, like China, to cut financial ties until it halts its missile program.

Some experts say Trump's erratic approach could have a positive effect on the effort to resolve the North Korean crisis.

Here's the segment with Conway: