Bedminster, New Jersey - Issuing a new threat to North Korea, President Donald Trump demanded that North Korea "get their act together" or face extraordinary trouble. He said his previous warning of "fire and fury" if Pyongyang threatened the U.S. again might have been too soft.
North Koreans gather for a rally at Kim Il Sung Square carrying placards and propaganda slogans as a show of support for their rejection of the United Nations' latest round of sanctions. Propaganda poster at center says, "The nuclear treasured sword of justice!" Picture: Jon Chol Jin/AP
"Maybe that statement wasn't tough enough," Trump said on Thursday.
Trump, speaking to reporters from the New Jersey golf resort where he's vacationing, said North Korea had been "getting away with a tragedy that can't be allowed." Still, he declined to say whether the US was considering a pre-emptive military strike, arguing that his administration never discusses such deliberations publicly.
A man watches a television screen showing US President Donald Trump, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea. Picture: Ahn Young-joon/AP
Trump's comments were his first since North Korea reacted to his "fire and fury" threat by announcing a detailed plan to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to US bombers. Trump said it was time that somebody stood up to the pariah nation.
"North Korea better get their act together or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble," Trump said, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence. "It may very well be tougher than I said."
Tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered for a rally at Kim Il Sung Square carrying placards and propaganda slogans as a show of support for their rejection of the United Nations' latest round of sanctions in Pyongyang. Propaganda signs, from left to right: “Strike the United States with nuclear thunderbolt!”; “Those who touch us will not escape death”; “A revenge attack of annihilation”. Picture: Jon Chol Jin/AP
Trump said the US "of course" would always consider negotiations with North Korea, but added that negotiations with the North have failed for the last 25 years. He accused his predecessors of failing to effectively address the North Korea problem.
Alluding to the threats against Guam, Trump said if North Korea took any steps to even think about an attack, it would have reason to be nervous.
A PAC-3 Patriot missile unit is seen deployed in the compound of Defense Ministry in Tokyo. North Korea announced a detailed plan to launch a volley of ballistic missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to US bombers, and dismissed US President Donald Trump's threats of "fire and fury" if it doesn't back down. Picture: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP
"Things will happen to them like they never thought possible, OK?" Trump said. Of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump added: "He's been pushing the world around for a long time."