Trump pledges ‘fire and fury’
UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump has used his harshest language yet to warn North Korea that it will be ‘‘met with fire and fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before’’ if it does not stop threatening the US.
‘‘North Korea best not make any more threats,’’ Trump told reporters yesterday at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, where he is vacationing. Saying that the threats had gone ‘‘beyond a normal state,’’ he twice repeated the ‘‘fire and fury’’ warning.
It was not immediately clear what Trump was responding to. A North Korean military spokesman said later that Pyongyang was considering a plan to fire missiles at the US Pacific territory of Guam, which is home to about 163,000 people and a US military base that includes a submarine squadron, an air base and a Coast Guard group.
Guam Governor Eddie Calvo dismissed the North’s threat and said the island was prepared for ‘‘any eventuality’’ with strategically placed defences.
North Korea also accused the US of devising a ‘‘preventive war’’ and said any plans to execute this would be met with an ‘‘all-out war wiping out all the strongholds of enemies, including the US mainland’’.
Earlier in the day, North Korea said it would ‘‘ruthlessly take strategic measures involving physical actions’’ in the wake of new economic sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council.
Trump’s statement also followed a report in The Washington Post that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturised nuclear warhead that can fit inside its ballistic missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power. The report quoted a confidential assessment by US intelligence officials.
The unanimous UN sanctions vote, banning key North Korean exports, came after two tests last month of long-range missiles capable of reaching the US mainland.
Trump’s comments drew criticism from senior US lawmakers. ‘‘The great leaders I’ve seen don’t threaten unless they’re ready to act, and I’m not sure President Trump is ready to act,’’ Arizona Republican Senator John McCain said.
Maryland Democrat Senator Benjamin Cardin said the remarks were ‘‘not helpful, and once again show that [Trump] lacks the temperament and judgment’’ to deal with a serious crisis.
The escalated rhetoric and talk of war come as the Trump administration is trying to push North Korea towards direct talks.
The administration has made it clear that it is no longer adhering to the policy of previous administrations requiring North Korea to commit to giving up its nuclear weapons before talks can begin.
The White House has said it is ‘‘keeping all options on the table’’ regarding North Korea, including the use of military force.
Short of war, the administration is already drawing up plans for additional sanctions, including on North Korean oil imports.
Victor Cha, director of Asian studies at Georgetown University and former president George W. Bush’s top adviser on North Korea, said he took Trump’s harsh statement ‘‘not to be a sign that the United States is going to attack, but [to warn that] if North Korea actually did anything behind all their bluster, they would be met with immediate and overwhelming response. That is actually good for deterrence’’.
Trump’s statement came after he took to Twitter to amplify a Fox News report, based on anonymous sources, that US spy satellites had detected North Korea loading two cruise missiles on a patrol boat in recent days.
A White House spokesman did not respond to a question about whether Trump’s retweet amounted to a confirmation of the story.
Asked about the report on Fox, Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said she could not comment.
Japan said it had conducted joint air drills with US supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers in Japanese skies close to the Korean peninsula yesterday as tension in the region escalates.
Andersen Air Force Base on Guam is where the US keeps its B1-B bombers deployed to the Asia-Pacific region. The planes, which are capable of carrying nuclear bombs, followed up the drills with Japan with a separate exercise with South Korean forces.
Texas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress, one of Trump’s evangelical advisers, who preached on the morning of his inauguration, has released a statement saying the president has the moral authority to take out North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
‘‘When it comes to how we should deal with evildoers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary - including war - to stop evil,’’ Jeffress said yesterday. ‘‘In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong-un.’’
Jeffress said he was prompted to make the statement after Trump’s ’’fire and fury’’ comments.
He said many pacifist Christians would cite Romans 12, which says, ‘‘Do not repay evil for evil’’, but that this passage referred to Christians, not to the government.
- Washington Post, Reuters