This is getting scary, guys! President Donald Trump made a somewhat veiled threat to start a war with North Korea. He said:
“China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won’t. If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don’t, it won’t be good for anyone.”
China has not responded to this, but they issued a statement saying that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had phoned China’s top diplomat State Councilor Yang Jiechi.
Trump also told The Financial Times in that same interview:
“If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”
United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said this about China:
“They need to show us how concerned they are … The only country that can stop North Korea is China, and they know that.”
Rex Tillerson spoke in South Korea last month saying that the option of war with North Korea is still on the table.
Also, this is not the first time Trump has complained about North Korea. A few weeks ago, Trump tweeted:
North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2017
When asked by CNN, Tillerson said:
“Certainly, we do not want things to get to a military conflict … but obviously, if North Korea takes actions that threatens the South Korean forces or our own forces, then that would be met with an appropriate response.”
What Can Trump Do?
There are a few things President Trump can do about North Korea “on his own.”
Trump once mentioned talking with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “over a burger.”
The United States could also go after China more. Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies mentioned that President Trump should go send the Treasury Department after the Chinese banks.
Of course, the third option is for the United States to take military action.
This is scary, and Trump shouldn’t be throwing around threats lightly.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot.
