Trump’s tweets may also confuse his own administration, analysts say
If President Trump hoped to keep North Korea guessing with his latest threats, he has also left many Americans — and perhaps even his own administration — equally puzzled.
Over the weekend, Trump said his predecessors in the White House have talked to North Korea for the past 25 years without success. “Sorry, but only one thing will work!” Trump tweeted Saturday.
“What the heck is that?” said Jeffrey Lewis, an analyst at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. “You just can’t parse any of it.”
Trump seemed to refer to military action to force a halt to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, but analysts doubt he is referring to a specific action plan. “I think he is just blustering,” Lewis said.
Trump has repeatedly mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by calling him “lIttle rocket man,” one of many personal insults the two leaders have exchanged.
The Pentagon has cautioned that any military action on the Korean Peninsula would be catastrophic, putting millions of civilians at risk. North Korea has artillery and rockets aimed at South Korea’s capital, Seoul, just 35 miles from the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries. About 25 million people live in Seoul and surrounding suburbs.
Trump’s veiled threats raise the risk of miscalculation by leading Kim to think the United States is about to attack, Lewis said. If he feared an attack was imminent, he might order a pre-emptive attack.
“It’s bad signaling because people will fill in the blanks,” Lewis said.
