Defense

Trump warns of military action with North Korea if sanctions don’t work

President Trump signaled on Friday that military action could be in the works if new sanctions against North Korea don’t curb the country’s nuclear ambitions.

The White House on Friday announced aggressive new sanctions against North Korea aimed at crippling their ability to trade.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House, Trump said that if the sanctions don’t work “we’ll have to go to phase two,” which he said “may be a very rough thing.”

{mosads}“We’ll have to see,” Trump said. “I don’t think I’m going to exactly play that card. But we’ll have to see. If the sanctions don’t work we’ll have to go to phase two. Phase two may be a very rough thing. May be very, very unfortunate for the world.”

“But hopefully the sanctions will work,” Trump added. “We have tremendous support all around the world for what they’re doing. It really is a rogue nation. If they can make a deal it will be a great thing. If we can’t, something will have to happen. So we’ll see.”