Calm before the storm – Trump

PYONGYANG: DISCUSSES THREAT WITH MILITARY BOSSES

‘We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation with loss of life.’

Washington

After discussing Iran and North Korea with US military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm”.

“You guys know what this represents?” Trump said after journalists gathered in the White House state dining room to photograph him and first lady Melania Trump with the uniformed military leaders and their spouses. “Maybe it’s the calm before the storm,” he said.

What storm? “You’ll find out,” Trump told the reporters.

The White House did not immediately reply to a request to clarify Trump’s remark.

Earlier in the evening, while seated with the top defence officials in the Cabinet room, Trump talked about the threat from North Korea and preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

“In North Korea, our goal is denuclearisation,” he said. “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.”

The president on Thursday also had tough words for Iran, saying it had not lived up to the spirit of an agreement forged with world powers to curb its nuclear programme. A senior administration official said Trump was expected to announce soon he would decertify the landmark agreement.

Trump also pressed the military leaders to be faster at providing him with “military options” when needed. “I know government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles,” he said. – Reuters