Trump Proves He's as Dangerous as Kim Jong-Un with Threat to Unleash 'Fire and Fury' on North Korea
President Trump threatened to unleash overwhelming military force on North Korea on Tuesday, when asked to respond to the country’s latest provocations after the United Nations Security Council adopted a new round of sanctions.
“North Korea best not make any more threats of the United States,” the president said. “They will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. He has been very threatening—beyond a normal statement. And as I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
Trump’s comments come against a backdrop of media reports—such as the Washington Post's Tuesday—stating that intelligence analysts are saying that the North Koreans have the technical capacity to place a nuclear warhead atop a missile whose range can reach the western United States.
For many Americans, Trump's remarks play on their darkest fears about his presidency—that a confrontation between a bully president and a bully North Korean dictator could lead to a nuclear catastrophe.
Trump’s vow represents a line in the sand akin to the one his predecessor drew with Syria for its use of poison gas. Obama ultimately did not follow through with military action, a tack that drew feverish criticism from the Republican nominee throught the 2016 election.
In recent days, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has been meeting with his counterparts in Asia and seeking to lower the temperature in the region by forging a collective response to North Korea’s ongoing nuclear weapons and missile programs.
As CNN reported, on Monday North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho blamed the U.S. for the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and said its “possession of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles is a legitimate option for self-defense in the face of a clear and real nuclear threat posed by the US.”
“We will, under no circumstances, put the nukes and ballistic rockets on the negotiating table," Ri said, adding North Korea would “teach the U.S.l a severe lesson” if it used military force against North Korea.
Trump’s comments came during a “working vacation” at a New Jersey golf course, where he was hosting an event focused on the domestic opioid addiction crisis. It is not clear if they were coordinated with the rest of his foreign policy team.
There are right-wing factions in Washington that have encouraged Trump to take more assertive postures in the world’s hotspots—from Iran to North Korea. It appears that some people in these circles have been leaking intelligence assessments to the Washington Post and press, in part fanning the Trump-North Korea confrontation.
Where this goes next is anyone's guess, as both the American president and North Korean dictator appear incapable of backing down. It’s not clear whether the U.S. military would obey a presidential order to attack North Korea.
The nuclear issue is not a new one. Past administrations have talked loudly but done little more than push for U.N. sanctions while urging China, North Korea’s neighbor and ally, to pressure the country into deescalating.
There is no way that military conflict with North Korea would not become the world's foremost international crisis. It involves China and would roil the economy of the region and the globe, not to mention jeopardize the lives of hundreds of thousands.
Trump's threats Tuesday mark a new phase in his presidency. The targets of Trump’s prior bullying—most of whom have been domestic—have no ability to fight back using military force.
Trump has just shown the country and the world that he is as unstable and unpredictable as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The big question is what comes next, as he is the commander in chief of the U.S. military.
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