President Donald Trump boasted Friday that the U.S. Air Force and its high-tech military hardware represent a potentially ‘overwhelming’ military response to North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling.
Standing before a massive U.S. flag and a B-2 stealth bomber – a plane that’s capable of dropping nuclear bombs – Trump lashed out at dictator Kim Jong-Un and warned that advanced U.S. weaponry can make the souls of America’s enemies ‘tremble.’
He bashed Pyongyang for showing ‘its utter contempt for its neighbors and for the entire world community.’
‘Nothing inspires more confidence in our friends, or strikes more fear in the hearts of our enemies, than the sight of American war planes on the horizon,’ Trump declared.
‘Our aviators have given America total dominance of the air and space no matter where we fly. Now when our enemies hear the F-35’s engines, when they’re roaring overhead, their souls will tremble and they will know the day of reckoning has arrived.’
FLEX: President Donald Trump spoke to Air Force personnel Friday in front of a nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bomber as he warned North Korea that a ‘day of reckoning’ could come
North Korean despot Kim Jong-Un ordered the launch of a ballistic missile on Friday with a long enough range to strike the U.S. island of Guam
‘I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming,’ Trump told airmen and women after personally reviewing their firepower at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland
Trump was addressing hundreds of Air Force personnel at Joint Base Andrews, the Maryland air base where Air Force One takes off and lands, after reviewing the Defense Department’s most sophisticated aerial combat jets and bombers.
‘After seeing your capabilities and commitment here today,’ he told them, ‘I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming.’
The president praised the airmen and women, saying that many of them are ‘better looking than Tom Cruise’ – the actor who starred in ‘Top Gun’ – and that ‘we know they can fight better, and we know they can fly better.’
‘They better be able to. Great people. They’re truly, truly competitive.’
And in a message seemingly aimed at the North Korean despot, Trump bragged that ‘America has dominated both air and space like no other nation in history.’
‘Our air superiority is unquestioned. Not merely because we have the best equipment, but because we have the best people by far.’
This photo made available by the North Korean state news shows a test-fire of the Hwasong-14 ICBM at an undisclosed location in North Korea in July
Eye on Guam: Friday’s missile test flew 2,300 miles – 200 further than the distance from Pyongyang to U.S. Pacific territory of Guam – and landed in the sea
Trump praised the Air Force personnel, saying that many of them are ‘better looking than Tom Cruise’ – the actor who starred in ‘Top Gun’ – and that ‘we know they can fight better’
National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster told reporters hours earlier at the White House that judging from Kim’s latest missile launch, ‘North Korea remains one of the world’s most urgent and dangerous security problems.’
McMaster appeared alongside U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, emphasizing with her that Washington prefers to see diplomacy result in a de-nuclearlized Korean peninsula.
But ‘for those who have said and have been commenting about the lack of a military option,’ he added, ‘there is a military option.’
‘Now, it’s not what we would prefer to do, so what we have to do is call on all nations, call on everyone to do everything we can to address this global problem short of war.’
First lady Melania Trump introduced her husband after walking in with him past an array of military fighter jets and bombers
White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster (right) and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley (left) told reporters on Friday that they would prefer to see a diplomatic approach to the Korean peninsula, but McMaster warned that there is a workable military solution
The UN Security Council on Friday strongly condemned North Korea’s missile launch this week as ‘highly provocative,’ but did not threaten a new round of economic sanctions.
North Korea fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan that landed in the Pacific, baiting the West with its furthest-ever missile flight.