Trump: If needed, U.S. will act unilaterally on North Korea

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Pool/Getty Images)

If necessary, President Trump is willing to find a way to deal with the threat of a nuclear North Korea on his own, he told the Financial Times on Sunday.

"If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will," he said. "That is all I am telling you." Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the United States on Thursday, and Trump is expected to pressure him to do more about North Korea, which experts fear could soon develop a long-range nuclear missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. "China has great influence over North Korea," Trump said. "And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't. And if they do that will be very good for China, and if they don't it won't be good for anyone." He also told the Financial Times he could "totally" succeed if forced to take on Pyongyang solo, but did not elaborate on any possible actions.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.