President Donald Trump left war with North Korea on the table as an option if Pyongyang doesn’t behave after a call with China’s Xi Jinping on Wednesday that the the U.S. leader described as ‘very, very frank.’
Trump told reporters as he was leaving the White House for a tax speech outside Washington, ‘We will not be putting up with what’s happening in North Korea.’
War is ‘certainly not our first choice,’ he said in response to a shouted question, ‘but we will see what happens.’
President Donald Trump left war with North Korea on the table as option if Pyongyang doesn’t behave after a call with China’s Xi Jinping on Wednesday that the the U.S. leader described as ‘very, very frank’
The administration has repeatedly said it is keeping every option on the table as it grapples with the threat from North Korea. The president’s remark is likely to stir new worries, however, that Trump is actually mulling military action.
Trump spoke to several world leaders yesterday and today about North Korea’s illicit test on Sunday of what it claims was a hydrogen bomb.
Britain’s Theresa May and Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull were on Trump’s call list yesterday. This morning, Trump spoke to Xi, according to his public schedule.
‘We had a very good phone call. It lasted for a long time,’ Trump told reporters waiting for him outside the White House ahead of his departure for North Dakota. ‘President Xi would like to do something. We’ll see whether or not he can do it.’
Trump has toggled between praise for the Chinese leader, who he met for the first time this year shortly after taking office, and contempt for the Communist Party’s posturing on North Korea.
Xi’s government is in favor of a denuclearized North Korea, and it has agreed to the implementation some sanctions. It has rejected harsher punishments on North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un because it is worried about destabilization.
Trump indicated Sunday that he was looking to put sanctions on Chinese companies that do business with North Korea to make the choice easier for Beijing.
‘But we will not be putting up with what’s happening in North Korea,’ the president declared today. ‘I believe that President Xi agrees with me 100 percent. He doesn’t want to see what’s happening there, either.’
Trump then offered, ‘We had a very, very frank and very strong phone call.’
Before he turned to go, a reporter asked Trump if he was considering military action in North Korea.
‘We’re going to see what happens. We’ll see what happens. Certainly, that’s not our first choice, but we will see what happens. Thank you very much,’ the president stated.