Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan contradicts Trump, says North Korea's missile tests violate UN resolution

(Image credit: Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

published 30 May 2019

President Trump may have been unfazed by North Korea testing short-range ballistic missiles, but Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan has a problem with it.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Shanahan said the early May launches defied a United Nations resolution prohibiting North Korea from testing any ballistic missiles. "Let me just be clear," he declared. "Those were short-range missiles. Those are a violation of the UNSCR."

While in Japan over the weekend, Trump tweeted that North Korea "fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me." On Monday, he announced that while "my people think it could have been a violation, I view it differently." Trump was likely referring to National Security Adviser John Bolton, who said on Saturday "there is no doubt" North Korea's tests violate the UN resolution.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.