It was hard to miss President Donald Trump’s comments this week about meeting North Korea’s threats of nuclear weapons with “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” The president made the remarks after news broke of North Korea’s possession of a “nuclear warhead that can be affixed to missiles,” The Los Angeles Times said. Now in response to Trump’s “fiery” claims, CNN reports that North Korea is “seriously examining a plan” to launch a missile strike targeted near Guam.
The consideration of a strike comes from the North Korean Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. If the decision is carried out, the country’s four Hwasong-12 rockets would eventually hit waters 30 to 40 kilometers away from Guam. According to an article published by North Korean media KCNA, the missiles could reach Guam by mid-August, and then the Korean army would await orders assumedly from Kim Jong Un. It’s suspected that the missiles would purposely target Guam’s Andersen Air Force Base, which is primarily used as a staging area for bomber groups.
“This is extremely getting on the nerves of the infuriated Hwasong artillerymen of the [Korean’s People Army],” a wire published by KCNA said of Trump’s behavior. “Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump has a history of speaking so strongly against North Korea, but he might’ve expressed himself a little more eloquently back in the day. NBC News released footage from 1999 of the then businessman discussing the United States’ relationship with North Korea.
“Wouldn’t it be good to sit down and really negotiate something?” he said in the old interview. “If that negotiation doesn’t work, you better solve the problem now than solve it later.”
What with this clip resurfacing, I’m hoping that Trump learns a thing or two from his past self about staying calm in these intense situations. We’ll have to wait and see how North Korea chooses to act as the month continues.