WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that „all options are on the table“ in terms of a U. S…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that „all options are on the table“ in terms of a U. S. response to North Korea’s launch of a missile over Japan.
In a terse, written statement, Trump said that with the missile launch North Korea has „signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior.“
„Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world, “ Trump said. „All options are on the table.“
Trump later told reporters, „We’ll see, we’ll see“ when asked what he would do about North Korea. Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, was departing the White House for a trip to survey storm damage in southeast Texas.
In a first, North Korea on Tuesday fired a midrange ballistic missile designed to carry a nuclear payload that flew over U. S. ally Japan and splashed into the northern Pacific Ocean, officials said. The aggressive launch over the territory of a close U. S. ally sent a clear message of defiance as Washington and South Korea conduct war games nearby.
Trump’s statement implies that military action remains an option in resolving the standoff over North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons that could threaten America. But a U. S. military strike against North Korea is considered highly unlikely. Even Trump’s own strategic adviser, Steve Bannon, dismissed the threat as a bluff shortly before he was dismissed earlier this month.
North Korea has the world’s largest standing army and a massive conventional weapons arsenal that can easily target the South Korean capital of Seoul and its metropolitan area of about 25 million people.
While Democrat and Republican presidents have routinely offered the „all options on the table“ formulation, U. S. officials have long assessed that the North would likely respond to any U. S. strike by attacking its neighbor or nearby Japan. The result could be a war with the risk of mass casualties on both sides. Hundreds of thousands of Americans in Northeast Asia, military and civilians, would be endangered.
Despite some heated rhetoric between the U. S. and North Korea in recent weeks the U. S. administration has been emphasizing it wants to use economic and diplomatic pressure to achieve a negotiated solution. The U. N. Security Council unanimously adopted its toughest sanctions yet against North Korea in response to twin launches in July of an intercontinental ballistic missile that could potentially strike the U. S. mainland. The U. S. and its partners have been urging China, the North’s traditional ally and main trading partner, use its leverage more effectively.
Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan conferred by telephone over the latest missile test.
The White House said the two leaders agreed that North Korea poses „a grave and growing direct threat“ to the United States, Japan, South Korea and countries around the world.
„President Trump and Prime Minister Abe committed to increasing pressure on North Korea, and doing their utmost to convince the international community to do the same, “ the White House said.
Abe said in a statement that „Japan’s and the U. S. positions are totally at one.“
The prime minister added that both nations were in „total agreement“ that an emergency meeting was needed at the U. N. Security Council to step up pressure on North Korea after what he called an unprecedented threat. He also said Trump expressed his „strong commitment“ to defending Japan.
Tuesday’s launch rattled nerves in the region. With minutes, residents on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido were alerted on their cellphones, and with loud alarms and an email that told people to stay indoors. Speakers broadcast an alert saying „missile is passing, missile is passing.“
North Korea had also launched three short-range missiles off its eastern coast late Friday. The tests have punctured recent hopes of a lull in the tensions that had spiked in early August when Trump warned that more North Korean threats would be „met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.“
But last week, Trump had praised North Korea’s decision to back down from its earlier threats to launch missiles into the sea close to the U. S. Pacific territory of Guam.
„But, Kim Jong Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us, “ Trump said at a campaign rally last week in Phoenix. „I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact. And maybe, probably not, but maybe something positive can come about.“
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had also complimented North Korea for its restraint by not launching any missiles for more than three weeks. He had said that if it continued, they could be on a path toward dialogue in the near future.
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Associated Press writers Matthew Pennington and Bradley Klapper contributed from Washington.
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Confronting Harvey’s fury, President Donald Trump is making an all-out push to show the federal government’s responsiveness to the massive storm that has lashed the Texas coastwdc and…
WASHINGTON (AP) – Confronting Harvey’s fury, President Donald Trump is making an all-out push to show the federal government’s responsiveness to the massive storm that has lashed the Texas coastwdc and caused catastrophic flooding.
Trump will travel to Texas on Tuesday to observe the federal government’s work to help the state recover from Harvey’s devastation. The storm, bringing torrents of rain and all but paralyzing Houston, marks the first time Trump has been tested by a major natural disaster at the start of his administration.
The president was scheduled to receive briefings on the relief efforts in Corpus Christi, Texas, and later meet with state officials at the emergency operations center in Austin. The president was joined by first lady Melania Trump and other officials.
„Conditions haven’t cleared in Houston yet so probably not appropriate for him to go up there, probably not safe for him to go up there, “ said Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas. „But I do think having your own eyes on the devastation that I have seen is important.“
Trump has appeared to relish the role of guiding the nation’s response to Harvey, which made landfall along the Gulf Coast on Friday night as a Category 4 storm near Corpus Christi, and moved northeast along the Texas coast over Houston. The storm has dumped more than 30 inches of rain in parts of Texas and authorities have rescued thousands of people left stranded by the storm.
„Recovery will be a long and difficult road and the federal government stands ready, willing and able to support that effort, “ Trump said during a joint news conference on Monday with the president of Finland.
Trump promised that Congress would act swiftly to approve a large recovery package to help the Gulf Coast region and said he was likely to return to Texas, and make a stop in Louisiana, during the weekend. But by visiting the region only days after Harvey made landfall, he raised questions among his critics on whether his presence would complicate efforts by emergency responders to help those in need.
Hurricanes have often presented American presidents with the potential for political advantage – and in some cases, peril.
President George W. Bush struggled to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when he declared that then-Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown was doing „a heckuva job, “ comments that appeared to clash with reality once the full scope of the devastation became clear.
Images of Bush looking down at the flooding in New Orleans from Air Force One also gave the impression that he was detached from the horrific conditions on the ground.
In 2012, President Barack Obama oversaw the government’s response to Superstorm Sandy along the East Coast just before the 2012 election. Obama’s trip to the hard-hit New Jersey coast allowed him to join with Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who lavished praise on the president, a helpful boost in Obama’s partisan clash against Republican Gov. Mitt Romney.
Trump has had some practice in the art of the natural disaster visit. In August 2016, Trump and Pence, his campaign running mate, traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to survey flood damage that had killed more than a dozen people and displaced thousands more. Trump was greeted warmly as he toured the damage and consoled residents with hugs.
The typically brash and spotlight-seeking billionaire offered restrained remarks as he looked at the waterlogged wreckage and expressed solidarity with residents struggling to clean up.
„Nobody understands how bad it is, “ Trump told reporters at the time after briefly helping unload a truck of supplies. „It’s really incredible, so I’m just here to help.“
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
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