Trump is reportedly 'belligerent' about North Korea in meetings


President Trump has a "fixation" on North Korea, Axios reported Friday. The president is said to be the most hawkish voice in the room during conversations about potential war with Pyongyang, and his "belligerent rhetoric" is so forceful as to be a cause for concern, Axios reported, citing unnamed officials.
Trump's aggression toward North Korea is not exactly a surprise, as the White House has undercut Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's public overtures for diplomacy. Trump "is surrounded by advisers who share his concern about the rogue state," Axios explained, "but not his fixation on a military strike."
Additionally, Trump is holding out hope that China can put pressure on North Korea — though his intent to flex diplomatic muscle with Beijing has stifled his ability to criticize it. Axios noted that Trump told The New York Times on Thursday that China is "hurting us very badly on trade," but the president told the Times that his economic dealings with Beijing have been guided by the hope that China will help the U.S. corner North Korea.
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.
As a result, while the president yearns for a "trade war" and high taxes on aluminum and steel imports to the U.S., the North Korea crisis has prevented him from pushing for the protectionist economic policies he so desires, Axios reported. However, one source told Axios that Trump's impulses have been restrained during his first year in office, predicting that 2018 would mark the beginning of the "full Trump" era.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from