The White House on Monday defended President Trump’s praise of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as “a smart cookie” who was someone he would be “honored” to meet.

“He assumed power at a young age when his father passed,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters when asked to explain the president’s remarks.

“There was a lot of potential threats that could have come his way. He’s managed to lead a country forward, despite the concerns that we and so many people have, he is a young person to be leading a country with nuclear weapons.”

North Korea on Monday escalated its war of words with the US, threatening to escalate its nuclear weapons program.

The same day, the president said he would be honored to meet Kim under the right conditions.

But Spicer said those conditions do not exist and that the communist regime would have to come a long way before a sit-down took place.

“We have to see the provocative behavior [end] immediately. There’s a lot of conditions that would have to happen with respect to its behavior, and to show signs of good faith. Clearly [the] conditions are not there right now,” Spicer said.