President Donald Trump on Saturday said ‘only one thing will work’ in dealing with North Korea after previous administrations had talked to Pyongyang without results.
‘Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid,’ Trump said in a tweet.
‘…Hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, making fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!’
Trump did not make clear to what he was referring.
The president has previously said the United States would destroy North Korea if necessary to protect itself and its allies.
He has also derisively referred to North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un as ‘Little Rocket Man.’
President Donald Trump on Saturday said ‘only one thing will work’ in dealing with North Korea after previous administrations had talked to Pyongyang without results
Trump has made a habit of giving cryptic statements both on Twitter and in person, leaving observers to wonder what exactly he meant.
The White House refused to explain on Friday what Trump meant the previous evening when he appeared to forecast a military conflict somewhere in the world.
The president told reporters Thursday night that a jovial photo-op with his top generals could represent ‘the calm before the storm.’
Friday afternoon during an event with American manufacturers, Trump was asked what he had meant.
‘You’ll find out,’ he said, winking.
The president has previously said the United States would destroy North Korea if necessary to protect itself and its allies. He has also derisively referred to North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un as ‘Little Rocket Man.’ Kim is seen in the above file photo taken on September 29
An hour later during a press briefing his spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted that ‘you’ll have to wait and see.’
Sanders said that while Trump’s words are vague, he’s not trying to sow confusion.
‘I wouldn’t say necessarily that he’s trying to throw people off, but he’s not trying to broadcast or telegraph his exact actions,’ she said.
‘I think we’ve seen what a failure it is when an administration does that.’
Sanders cautioned that Trump ‘certainly doesn’t want to lay out his game plan for our enemies.’
But she also refused to say which to which enemy the president had issued his cryptic warning.
‘We’ve got a lot of bad actors in the world: North Korea, Iran, there’s several examples there,’ she said, adding that ‘I haven’t been specific about anything.’
Before Trump created a national ‘calm before the storm’ storm, he had been discussion with top defense officials the threat from North Korea how to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
‘In North Korea, our goal is denuclearization,’ he said.
The president on Thursday also had tough words for Iran, saying the country had not lived up to the spirit of an agreement forged with world powers to curb its nuclear program. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is seen in the above file photo
‘We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation or our allies with unimaginable loss of life. We will do what we must do to prevent that from happening. And it will be done, if necessary, believe me.’
During his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last month, Trump said the United States would ‘totally destroy’ North Korea if needed to defend itself or US allies.
The president on Thursday also had tough words for Iran, saying the country had not lived up to the spirit of an agreement forged with world powers to curb its nuclear program.
A senior administration official said on Thursday that Trump was expected to announce soon he would decertify the landmark agreement.
Trump has filled top posts within his administration with military generals, including his chief of staff, retired General John Kelly, and national security adviser, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster.
McMaster, who normally dresses in civilian clothes at the White House, wore his uniform for the meeting.
Without being specific, Trump pressed the leaders to be faster at providing him with ‘military options’ when needed.
‘Moving forward, I also expect you to provide me with a broad range of military options, when needed, at a much faster pace.
‘I know that government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy,’ he said during their cabinet room meeting.