WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's changing rhetoric on North Korea is a reflection of Kim Jong-un's recent gestures of goodwill, the White House said Monday.

Trump praised the North Korean leader last week after the regime released three American detainees. He said Kim had been "excellent" to the men, even though they had been held under questionable circumstances.

"I think the president's rhetoric has reflected Kim Jong-un's actions," White House deputy spokesman Raj Shah said at a regular news briefing. "I think that Kim Jong-un has stepped forward and made pledges to halt nuclear tests, halt ICBM tests, and now has released these three prisoners. And those are signs of good faith, and we hope to build on that."

The detainees' release came ahead of a historic summit between Trump and Kim on June 12. The two leaders are expected to discuss the dismantlement of the North's nuclear weapons program after exchanging threats and personal insults last year over the regime's tests of a nuclear weapon and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Trump labeled Kim "Little Rocket Man," and the North Korean leader called the president a "mentally deranged US dotard."

The US goal will remain the same going into the negotiations, the spokesman said.

"I don't want to get ahead of negotiations, but our policy has been to pursue the complete, irreversible and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Shah said. (Yonhap)