Donald Trump taunts North Korea over long-range nuclear missile: 'It won't happen!'


On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump waded into the morass of U.S. policy on North Korea's ambitions to become a nuclear power, an issue that has vexed U.S. presidents since at least the Eisenhower administration but has become more pronounced since Pyongyang's first successful nuclear weapons test in 2006. Trump was responding to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pronouncement on Sunday that his country is in the final stages of testing an intercontinental ballistic missile that could reach the U.S., and the president-elect's message just fit within Twitter's 140-character limit: "North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!"
In a follow-up tweet, sent about an hour later, Trump did not provide any details but instead chided China for both selling America consumer goods and failing to rein in its troublesome neighbor:
You can learn more about Trump's 140-character nuclear diplomacy, including the real fact that "China didn't immediately respond to Trump's tweets," in the Wall Street Journal video below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Depleted FEMA struggling as hurricane season begins
speed read FEMA has lost a third of its workforce amid DOGE cuts enforced by President Donald Trump
-
White House tackles fake citations in MAHA report
speed read A federal government public health report spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rife with false citations
-
Judge blocks push to bar Harvard foreign students
speed read Judge Allison Burroughs sided with Harvard against the Trump administration's attempt to block the admittance of international students
-
Trump's trade war whipsawed by court rulings
Speed Read A series of court rulings over Trump's tariffs renders the future of US trade policy uncertain
-
Elon Musk departs Trump administration
speed read The former DOGE head says he is ending his government work to spend more time on his companies
-
Trump taps ex-personal lawyer for appeals court
speed read The president has nominated Emil Bove, his former criminal defense lawyer, to be a federal judge
-
US trade court nullifies Trump's biggest tariffs
speed read The US Court of International Trade says Trump exceeded his authority in imposing global tariffs
-
Trump pauses all new foreign student visas
speed read The State Department has stopped scheduling interviews with those seeking student visas in preparation for scrutiny of applicants' social media