President Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon again asserted that diplomacy will not prevent North Korea from becoming a nuclear power and appeared to suggest that war with the country is only solution.
Trump made the comments in a series of tweets upon returning to the White House after spending several hours at his golf course in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.
Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017
…hasn't worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2017
This is far from the first time that Trump has dismissed diplomatic efforts — the President periodically sends tweets threatening North Korea and bashing talks carried out by his own state department.
Last weekend, Trump tweeted that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with” North Korea. The tweet came after Tillerson revealed that the state department has direct communications channels with North Korea for diplomatic talks.
In September, Trump warned North Korea that he is prepared to take military action against the country if leader Kim Jong Un continues to test missiles and progress in its efforts to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The President also published a tweet in August arguing that “talking is not the answer” with North Korea, prompting Defense Secretary James Mattis to follow up and tell reporters that the U.S. is “never out of diplomatic solutions.”
