Senator Lindsey Graham offered a word of warning to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un after President Trump accepted his invitation to meet.
The Republican politician said on Thursday that he hoped for peace, but warned Kim that ‘it will be the end’ of him if he tried to take advantage of Trump.
In a statement, posted on Twitter, Sen. Graham also issued a caution to the U.S. and the international community as he said he thinks North Korea will be ‘all talk and no action’.
Word of warning: Senator Lindsey Graham said in a statement that he has hopes for peace, but warned Kim Jong-Un against trying to ‘play’ President Trump
It reads: ‘After numerous discussions with President Trump, I firmly believe his strong stand against North Korea and its nuclear aggression gives us the best hope in decades to resolve this threat peacefully.
‘I am not naive. I understand that if the past is an indication of the future, North Korea will be all talk and no action.
‘However, I do believe that North Korea now believes President Trump will use military force if he has to.
‘A word of warning to North Korean President Kim Jong Un – the worst possible thing you can do is meet with President Trump in person and try to play him. If you do that, it will be the end of you – and your regime.’
The announcement that President Trump had accepted the invitation came from the South Korean official who led the delegation to Pyongyang this week.
South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong (L) meeting US President Donald J. Trump (R) at the White House in Washington, DC, USA
Peace move: Kim Jong Un held face to face talks with South Korea’s delegation this week – and has passed a message to Trump offering to meet
South Korea’s national security adviser Chung Eui-yong informed U.S. press of the expected in-person conversation, and said the goal of the unprecedented meeting between the two countries’ leaders is permanent denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Chung did not say where the meeting would take place.
A half hour after the foreign official announced the meeting, steps from the West Wing, the White House confirmed Trump’s participation.
A statement from White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the place and time of the meeting was still being worked out.
‘President Trump greatly appreciates the nice words of the South Korean delegation and President Moon. He will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined,’ Sanders said.
‘We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea. In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain.’