Trump: US options on North Korea ‘effective and overwhelming’

President Trump said Friday that he is confident the United States’ options toward North Korea are “effective and overwhelming.”

“America and our allies will never be intimidated. We will defend our people, our nations and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life,” he told Air Force personnel at Joint Base Andrews. “This includes the regime of North Korea, which has once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbors and for the entire world community.”

“After seeing your capabilities and commitment here today, I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming,” he continued.

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Trump’s comments came after H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser, reaffirmed that the Trump administration has military options in place for dealing with North Korea. 

“For those who have said and who have been commenting on a lack of a military option, there is a military option,” he said at the White House briefing, though he noted that it was not the administration’s preferred route for dealing with the nation’s aggressiveness.

North Korea conducted its latest ballistic missile test on Thursday in a show of defiance after the United Nations Security Council voted last week to impose the strongest sanctions to date on the rogue nation.

Since taking office, Trump has touted a plan to press China, Pyongyang’s only ally and largest trading partner, to do more to rein in North Korea. But he has grown increasingly frustrated with Beijing over what he has suggested is a muted response to North Korea’s provocations.

Last month, the president stirred international concern when he threatened to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if the country continued to threaten the U.S.

Since then, Pyongyang has conducted multiple weapons tests, including what the North Korean government claimed was a hydrogen bomb.