US President Donald Trump said Thursday the CNN report that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was in grave danger after a surgery was “incorrect,” but declined to say if he heard anything from Pyongyang.

“I think the report was incorrect, let me just put it that way,” Trump told reporters in a daily briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic at the White House.

“I think the report was done by a network that was incorrect. I’m hearing they used old documents. Well I hope it was an incorrect report. … I think it was a fake report done by CNN.”

Trump did not elaborate on what the “old documents” were about.

In a press briefing two days earlier, Trump said he didn’t know if the reports about Kim’s deteriorating health were true, and that he might reach out to North Korean officials to check on Kim’s condition.

In response to a question on whether he heard anything from the North about Kim’s health, Trump said on Thursday: “I hope he’s not in medical trouble. I have gotten along very well with him ... We have a good relationship with North Korea, I have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un and I hope he’s okay.”

About when he heard last from Kim, he said: “I don’t want to say.”

When a CNN reporter asked him if he didn’t hear anything from the North recently, Trump declined to answer further questions from her.

Trump repeated his claims that the US would have gone to war with North Korea had he not been elected president, and that he doesn’t want to be the police of the world.

While the US president’s remarks on Thursday could be based on the latest US intelligence on Kim’s health, he may also have exaggerated to attack his nemesis CNN, observers say.

CNN reported on Monday that the US is monitoring intelligence that Kim was in grave danger after a surgery, citing a “US official with direct knowledge.”

The cable news network said the next day that the US has been closely monitoring reports on Kim’s health.

Cheong Wa Dae said it has not detected anything peculiar in the North regarding reports on Kim’s health.

Kim is reportedly staying in the Wonsan area in Gangwon Province.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)