HEAT RAVE
Trump: Maybe I’ll get ‘tougher’ on N. Korea
FORGET FIRE and fury — President Trump on Thursday turned up the heat in his war of words with North Korea, saying his earlier incendiary comments may not have been “tough enough.”
“North Korea better get their act together or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble,” Trump told reporters at his New Jersey golf course, where he is in the middle of a 17-day vacation. “It may very well be tougher than I said.” Trump then refused to rule out a preemptive strike on the socialist nation.
“We don’t talk about that,” he said. “I never do.”
The President, who often touts his prowess as a deal-maker, did say he was open to negotiations, but did not express hope that talks with North Korea’s 33-year-old dictator Kim Jong Un would be effective in easing tensions.
In a separate press briefing at his resort, Trump hinted at the unprecedented destruction to come if Kim makes good on threats to bomb the U.S. territory of Guam.
“If he does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before, what will happen in North Korea,” Trump said.
Earlier this week, The Washington Post reported that Pyongyang is capable of producing nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, prompting Trump’s promise to rain down “fire and fury” upon the isolated nation. He kept up the tough talk Thursday. “They’ve been doing this for a long time, and it’s about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries,” Trump said.
Shortly before Trump’s remarks, one of North Korea’s top military officials lobbed his own barrage of bluster.
The U.S. will “suffer a shameful defeat and final doom if it persists in extreme military adventure, sanctions and pressure,” the minister of the Korean People’s Internal Security Forces said in a statement released to CNN.
The official vowed to “mercilessly wipe out the provocateurs.”
Pyongyang also announced a detailed plan to launch a quartet of ballistic missiles toward Guam, home to several major U.S. military installations.
The latest tauntings and threats marked the third consecutive day of heightened tensions between the two countries, sparking calls from critics, allies and others to find a path to peace before a nuclear war erupts.
More than 60 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Tillerson calling Trump’s taunts “irresponsible and dangerous,” and accusing the President of feeding North Korea all the evidence it needed “to portray the United States as a threat to their people.”
The United Nations said Secretary General Antonio Guterres is “troubled” by the escalating rhetoric from both sides of the nuclear dispute.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Guterres “welcomes all initiatives that will help de-escalate the tensions and a return to diplomacy.”
Former President Jimmy Carter also criticized the schoolyard-style goading that Trump and Korean officials are engaged in, calling instead for diplomacy.
“In addition to restraining the warlike rhetoric, our leaders need to encourage talks between North Korea and other countries, especially China and Russia,” he said in a statement.
Carter visited Pyongyang three times between 1994 and 2011, as a private citizen. He said leaders there want peace, “but were convinced that we planned a preemptive military strike against their country.”
Trump made no attempt to assuage those fears in his remarks.
“We are preparing for many different, alternative events if North Korea,” he said. Kim “has disrespected our country greatly. He has said things that are horrific. And with me, he’s not getting away with it.”