Trump claims Asia trip forged new unity against North Korea
President Donald Trump said he and Asian leaders have a new resolve to confront North Korea and its rogue nuclear weapons program, claiming credit Wednesday for projecting a stronger and more confident United States unafraid to insist on sovereignty and respect.
“Time is running out” in dealing with North Korea, Trump said at the White House.
With China, North Korea’s most important ally, Trump said he reaffirmed that “all options are on the table.”
Proclaims success
Trump spoke on his first full day back in Washington after a 12-day, fivenation trip to Asia. His remarks represented a sort of victory lap, as he ticked off what he described as his successes on the trip and took aim at what he called the failures and naivete of predecessors in protecting American jobs, trade and security.
Trump said that in Beijing, he insisted to President Xi Jinping that” we need to reduce our staggering trade deficit with China.”
Trump had come under criticism for saying that he did not “blame China” for the deficit or for “taking advantage” of market openings that he said past administrations had left.
In his remarks Wednesday, Trump gave a retrospective of what he called his forceful approach to U.S. foreign policy. Insisting on sovereignty and respect has led to stronger relationships, great NATO defense commitments and U.S. arms sales and spending, Trump asserted.
He did not respond to shouted questions about whether Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore should withdraw following allegations of sexual misconduct.
He paused during the speech at one point to take a long drink of water, a moment that recalled his mockery of rival presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., last year for gulping water during a televised address.
Trump has chafed at criticism that he did not notch any major accomplishments during the nearly two-week trip that spanned Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
The rising threat from North Korea was the main security issue for his discussions, and Trump claimed credit for greater unity in applying sanc- tions aimed at persuading Pyongyang to back off threats against the United States and its allies.
More tit for tat
On Wednesday, an editorial in a North Korean newspaper called Trump a coward who deserved the death penalty.
“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared (to) malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial in Rodong Sinmun said.
“He should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people.”
Trump pointed Wednesday to a major speech he delivered in Seoul, in which he denounced Pyongyang as a “cruel dictatorship.”
“America does not seek conflict or confrontation. But we will never run from it,” Trump said. “History is filled with discarded regimes that have foolishly tested America’s resolve. Anyone who doubts the strength or determination of the United States should look to our past, and you will doubt it no longer.”
In response, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency called Trump a “lunatic old man” who was “lost to sense.”