Trump wanted to use a nuclear weapon on North Korea in 2017 and blame it on somebody else: book

Former President Donald Trump was even more combative about North Korea in private meetings than he was in public, according to a new book – including talking about using nuclear weapons on the country and blaming someone else.

The U.S. and North Korea were in a tense and dangerous face-off in 2017, when Trump spoke of unleashing ‘fire and fury’ and threatened at the UN to ‘totally destroy’ the country if forced to defend itself or its allies. The remarks came amid a series of escalatory tweets about North Korea. 

According to a new book, ‘Donald Trump v. the United States’, Trump made the nuclear threat in a meeting with top advisors, NBC reported. 

That came just days after Trump’s bombastic UN speech. The then-president’s comments unnerved his new chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, who unloaded on Trump in his own memoir. 

‘What scared Kelly even more than the tweets was the fact that behind closed doors in the Oval Office, Trump continued to talk as if he wanted to go to war,’ according to a forward to the new edition of the book, by New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt.

‘He cavalierly discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea, saying that if he took such an action, the administration could blame someone else for it to absolve itself of responsibility,’ the passage continued. 

According to the account, Kelly, a retired Marine general, sought to push back and explain that the plan wouldn’t work.   

‘It’d be tough to not have the finger pointed at us,” he told the president.

The reported clash came after North Korea’s repeated missile launches, and Trump’s repeated threats, had policy experts worried about a potential military clash.

Former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told Trump the idea probably wouldn’t work, according to the book

The meeting came at a time of tensions over repeated North Korean missile launches and bellicose rhetoric

Trump ended up meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un

Trump had attacked North Korea publicly

Trump dubbed Kim ‘Rocket Man’

A long distance battle grew personal, but ultimately resulted in what Trump called ‘love letters’ from Kim

North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,’ Trump said that August from his New Jersey golf club. ‘They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen … he has been very threatening beyond a normal state. They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.’

Trump would ultimately visit North Korea dictator Kim Jong-un on his own visit to the DMZ, and would repeatedly boast about ‘love letters’ the men exchanged. They were among documents reportedly uncovered at Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to Trump’s office for comment.