President Donald Trump on Thursday said that military action against North Korea is “certainly” an option for the United States, though one that “hopefully” will not be necessary.
“Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing’s inevitable,” Trump said during a joint press conference with Kuwait’s Amir Sabah al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah.
North Korea claimed on Sunday that it had detonated a hydrogen bomb and loaded a hydrogen bomb onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.
Trump said he “would prefer not going the route of the military, but it’s something certainly that could happen.”
“Our military has never been stronger,” he said. “Each day new equipment is delivered, new and beautiful equipment, the best in the world, the best anywhere in the world by far. Hopefully we’re not going to have to use it on North Korea. If we do use it on North Korea, it will be a very sad day for North Korea.”
“Is it acceptable for you, as the President, for North Korea to be nuclearized but contained and deterred?” CBS’ Major Garrett asked.
“We’re going to see what it is,” Trump said. “No, I’m not negotiating with you. Maybe we’ll have a chance to negotiate with somebody else, but I don’t put my negotiations on the table unlike past administrations. I don’t talk about them. But I can tell you that North Korea is behaving badly and it’s got to stop, okay?”
