Trump said earlier this week that "talking" will not solve the nuclear standoff with the North. A day earlier, he had said "all options are on the table" following North Korea's Tuesday launch of a missile over Japan.
Both remarks were interpreted as a signal he would consider military options against Pyongyang, Yonhap news agency reported.
In a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday, however, the two leaders "reaffirmed their view that it was important to have North Korea come out to the dialogue table," according to Moon's spokesman Park Soo-hyun.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied there was any inconsistency in Trump's remarks.
"The president is looking for an integrated process, and we're continuing to move forward on that," she said during a press briefing. "We take North Korea extremely seriously, and all options are on the table. That hasn't changed."