North Korea missile test puts pressure on Trump

BELEAGUERED U.S. PRESIDENT COULD FACE ‘TRULY CONSEQUENTIAL DECISION’

U.S. President Donald Trump will be forced to deal with ongoing threats from North Korea as that country gains the ability to threaten the continental U.S. with a nuclear strike, an official said on Sunday, hours after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile into nearby seas.

North Korea will probably develop its ballistic missile technology enough to pair with its nuclear weapons to reach the U.S. during Trump’s tenure, said Richard Haas, president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Either the U.S. gets the Chinese to help increase pressure on North Korea through sanctions, or Trump will have “a truly consequential decision,” Haas said on CNN.

“Trump is going to have to face a truly fateful decision about whether we’re prepared to live with that, a North Korea that has that capability against us, or we are going to use military force one way or another to destroy their nuclear missile capability,” Haas said.

The latest provocation from North Korea comes as the new president continues to cope with brushfires on all sides — including a close friend urging him publicly to fire Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and the continuing controversy over national security adviser Michael Flynn, over reports that he engaged in conversations with a Russian diplomat about U.S. sanctions before Trump’s inauguration.

South Korea’s military said the missile fired on Sunday was believed to be an improved version of the mid-range Musudan model.

The launch drew a joint rebuke from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump during Abe’s visit to the U.S., as well as condemnation from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Russia.

Abe, speaking at a briefing late Saturday with Trump at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, said the missile test “can absolutely not be tolerated.” He called on North Korea to fully comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions. The launch was the first provocation by North Korea since Trump took office on Jan. 20.

Trump has vowed to prevent the country from developing the capability to strike the U.S. with a missile.

“The United States of America stands behind Japan, its great ally, 100 per cent,” he said on Saturday. Neither Abe nor Trump took questions.

Meanwhile, after talking privately with the president over drinks late Friday, Christopher Ruddy publicly argued that Trump should replace Priebus as chief of staff.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘Look, Donald has some problems,’ and I think he realizes that he’s got to make some changes going forward,” Ruddy told The Washington Post.

Ruddy went on to detail his critique of Priebus: “It’s my view that Reince is the problem. I think on paper Reince looked good as the chief of staff — and Donald trusted him — but it’s pretty clear the guy is in way over his head.

“He’s not knowledgeable of how federal agencies work, how the communications operations work. He botched this whole immigration rollout. This should’ve been a win for Donald, not two or three weeks of negative publicity.”

Ruddy — who is chief executive of Newsmax Media and a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida — spoke to The Post shortly after appearing on CNN, where he threw Priebus under the proverbial bus.

“I think there’s a lot of weakness coming out of the chief of staff,” Ruddy told CNN anchor Brian Stelter in a live interview.

As for Flynn, Trump has yet to comment on the allegations against him, and a top aide dispatched to represent the administration on the Sunday news shows skirted questions on the topic, saying it was not his place to weigh in on the “sensitive matter.”

“It’s not for me to tell you what’s in the president’s mind,” Stephen Miller said on NBC. “That’s a question for the president.”

The White House said in an anonymous statement Friday the president had full confidence in Flynn. But officials have been mum since then amid fallout from reports that Flynn addressed U.S. sanctions against Russia in a phone call late last year. The report contradicted both Flynn’s previous denials, as well as those made by Vice-President Mike Pence.

Meanwhile, the list of companies dropping products that carry the Trump name grew this weekend. Reuters reported Saturday that Sears Holdings and subsidiary Kmart will discontinue online sales of 31 items from the Trump Home collection, which includes lines of living room and bedroom furniture, lamps and chandeliers.