South Korea denies that Trump threatened Pyongyang with a preemptive strike


President Trump's fraught rhetoric on North Korea took yet another turn Wednesday, after Reuters reported that the president backed off his recent aggression toward dictator Kim Jong Un in a phone call with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. In the conversation with Moon, Trump apparently rejected recent reports that he is debating launching a preemptive strike against North Korea, calling those rumors "completely wrong."
Reuters notes that Trump's alleged remarks were reported only via South Korea's post-call readout. The White House did not mention Trump's reported pacifism in its statement after the conversation, instead highlighting Trump's desire to solve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula through diplomacy with Kim "under the right circumstances."
Stories claiming Trump was exploring a preemptive strike against Kim's regime were published by The Telegraph, Yahoo News, and The Wall Street Journal all within three weeks of each other. All outlined the same basic premise: that the White House is considering a limited strike on North Korea, referred to as "the bloody-nose option."
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.
The plan apparently hinged on the assumption that Kim would be in awe of America's military might and curtail his nuclear ambitions accordingly. The Journal's story, however, noted that some in the White House raised the possibility that Kim would overreact to any strike — and go to war in response.
Read more about the delicate dance between Trump and Kim here at The Week.
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