Trump Warns North Korea Leader �Will Not Get Away With What He�s Doing�
President Donald Trump on Friday warned North Korea's leader that he "will not get away with" it if he does anything against the U.S. or its allies.
"If he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat � which by the way he's been uttering for years, and his family has been uttering for years � or if he does anything with respect to Guam, or American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast," Trump said of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Speaking to reporters later after meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, the president said he planned to talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday evening, noting that the two countries have been working "very closely" on the North Korea issue.
Trump also previewed that his administration was considering "very strong" additional sanctions on North Korea � "as strong as they can get," he added � but he did not offer any details.
The president said the only reason anyone was criticizing his handling of North Korea was because he was the one in charge.
"My critics are only saying that because it's me," Trump told reporters at his Bedminster, N.J., golf resort. "If somebody else uttered same words I did, they'd say what a wonderful statement."
He added, "Tens of millions in this country so happy with what I'm saying � finally we have president sticking up for our nation and for our friends and allies � and this man will not get away with what he's doing, believe me."
Earlier in the day, the president echoed similar sentiments.
"Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely," Trump tweeted Friday morning. "Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!"
The U.S. military in the region surrounding the Korean Peninsula always remains prepared with both defensive and offensive capabilities, should North Korea launch an attack. "Ready to fight tonight," is their motto.
Hours earlier, North Korea�s state-run KCNA news agency slammed the White House as �warmongers� who "are unaware of the fact that even a single shell dropped on the Korean Peninsula might lead to the outbreak of a new world war, a thermonuclear war."
"We consider the U.S. no more than a lump which we can beat to a jelly any time," Pyongyang said in its statement.
Trump said he would not respond until he heard such statements from Kim himself. "Let me hear Kim Jong-un say it," the president said, adding that the North Korean leader "hasn�t been saying much for the last three days."
Trump's latest tweets also came not long after a Chinese state-run newspaper said China should remain neutral if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the United States, sounding a warning for Pyongyang over its plans to fire missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.
The comments from the influential Global Times came after Trump stepped up his rhetoric on Thursday against North Korea, saying his earlier threat to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if it launched an attack may not have been tough enough.
Trump also told reporters he would hold a "big press conference" Monday, but did not reveal the purpose.
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