Following North Korea’s threat this week to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles towards Guam, President Trump spoke with the U.S. territory’s governor over the phone on Friday.
“Mr. President, as the governor of Guam … and as an American citizen, I have never felt more safe or confident with you at the helm,” Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo (R) said to Trump in a video posted to his Facebook page.
“Don’t worry about a thing,” Trump said in response. “They should have had me eight years ago.”
Trump went on to say Calvo will become “extremely famous” in light of Guam making headlines lately.
“I have to say, Eddie, you’re going to become extremely famous,” Trump said, with Calvo chuckling in the background. “All over the world they’re talking about Guam and they’re talking about you.”
Trump also praised the possibility of rising tourism in Guam.
“And your tourism, I can say this, your tourism is going to go up like tenfold with the expenditure of no money, so I congratulate you,” Trump said. “It looks beautiful, you know I’m watching…it’s such a big story in the news. It just looks like a beautiful place.”
When Trump told Calvo he seems like a “hell of a guy,” Calvo responded by saying he wishes “there would be less partisanship” and this is a time when “everyone should be unifying behind our president.”
The call came just hours after Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “will regret it fast” if he continues his threats to U.S. territories and allies. Trump tweeted earlier on Friday morning that the U.S. military has solutions “fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely.”
Guam residents have displayed growing concerns over being in the middle of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
Guam’s Office of Civil Defense began distributing fact sheets on Friday to help residents prepare for the possibility of a missile attack.
