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
-
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – a ‘comfort’ watch for fansThe Week Recommends The final film of the franchise gives viewers a chance to say goodbye
-
The Paper: new show, same 'warmth and goofiness'The Week Recommends This spin-off of the American version of The Office is ‘comfortingly and wearyingly familiar’
-
Rachel Jones: Gated Canyons – ‘riotously colourful’ works from an ‘exhilarating’ painterThe Week Recommends The 34-year-old is the first artist to take over Dulwich Picture Gallery’s main space
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
