Trump says North Korea should be 'very, very nervous'
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Speaking Thursday from his New Jersey golf club, President Trump doubled down on his defiant responses to North Korea in light of Pyongyang's escalating nuclear threats. "They can be very, very nervous," Trump said, "and they should be very nervous. Things will happen to them like they never thought possible."
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have been trading increasingly aggressive statements this week, after Trump on Tuesday pledged to rain "fire and fury" down on the Hermit Kingdom if its nuclear threats to the U.S. continued. The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.S. intelligence community has assessed that North Korea has successfully miniaturized a nuclear weapon, to the point where it could fit inside one of its missiles; recent North Korean missile tests have indicated the country may be able to soon strike the American mainland.
Trump was criticized for his "fire and fury" threat because of the implication that he was threatening Pyongyang with nuclear war, but when a reporter asked Thursday whether his rhetoric was too tough, Trump disagreed. "Maybe it wasn't tough enough," he said. The reporter then asked what would be tougher than "fire and fury," to which Trump replied, "We'll see." He also warned North Korea that they "better get their act together, or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble."
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.
Responding to Trump's threats earlier Thursday, North Korea called the president's comments "a load of nonsense" and said it was finalizing a plan to fire four missiles over Japan into waters around the tiny Pacific island of Guam, a U.S. territory with a military base. Watch a portion of Trump's comments below. Kimberly Alters
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kimberly Alters is the news editor at TheWeek.com. She is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
-
Moltbook: The AI-only social networkFeature Bots interact on Moltbook like humans use Reddit
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Kurt Olsen: Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer playing a major White House roleIn the Spotlight Olsen reportedly has access to significant U.S. intelligence
-
Judge orders Washington slavery exhibit restoredSpeed Read The Trump administration took down displays about slavery at the President’s House Site in Philadelphia
-
Hyatt chair joins growing list of Epstein files losersSpeed Read Thomas Pritzker stepped down as executive chair of the Hyatt Hotels Corporation over his ties with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell
-
Judge blocks Hegseth from punishing Kelly over videoSpeed Read Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for the senator to be demoted over a video in which he reminds military officials they should refuse illegal orders
-
Trump’s EPA kills legal basis for federal climate policySpeed Read The government’s authority to regulate several planet-warming pollutants has been repealed
-
House votes to end Trump’s Canada tariffsSpeed Read Six Republicans joined with Democrats to repeal the president’s tariffs
-
Bondi, Democrats clash over Epstein in hearingSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi ignored survivors of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and demanded that Democrats apologize to Trump
-
El Paso airspace closure tied to FAA-Pentagon standoffSpeed Read The closure in the Texas border city stemmed from disagreements between the Federal Aviation Administration and Pentagon officials over drone-related tests
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
