Is Trump playing 'bad cop' on North Korea to Rex Tillerson's 'good cop'? He shouldn't, experts say.

President Trump and Rex Tillerson
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

On Sunday, President Trump publicly undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is in Asia, by tweeting that he should stop "wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," North Korea's Kim Jong Un, adding: "Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!" A few hours later, he tweeted: "Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won't fail." Kim, 33, assumed power in 2011, so Trump was presumably including his father and grandfather as "Rocket Man."

There are several theories on Trump's motive for undercutting Tillerson and implying certain military action. Trump was "privately described by advisers as furious" at Tillerson for contradicting his public position on talks with Pyongyang, The New York Times reports, but Trump also "could be attempting his own version of Richard M. Nixon's 'madman' theory, casting himself as trigger-happy to bolster the bargaining power of his aides." Unfortunately, in this case, "a misreading of North Korea could result in an atmospheric nuclear test or an artillery barrage against Seoul," the Times notes, and "Kim likes to play madman as well."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.