Trump: North Korea Needs to Be ‘Dealt With Rapidly’

Accuses North Korea of 'Causing Tremendous Problems'

While other Trump Administration officials have tried to downplay the risks of an imminent war on the Korean Peninsula, insisting that it is a “war we don’t want,” and that thee is really no rush so long as the US is able to contain the isolated North, President Trump continues to give the impress that the US is very much in a hurry to pick a fight there.

In comments today to reporters after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump insisted that “the North Korean regime is causing tremendous problems and is something that has to be dealt with, and probably dealt with rapidly.”

That’s been a recurring concern in the Pacific, with several nations expressing concern that the US might unilaterally attack North Korea, causing a huge war that would create a humanitarian crisis and do huge amounts of damage to neighboring South Korea. President Trump’s comments seem to continually lend credence to this.

While this leaves exactly where US policy stands very much a mystery, it also points to a continuing administration issue, that top officials are unable to maintain a consistent narrative, and to the extent they are ever able to, they are quickly undermined by the president himself taking the opposite stance.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.