President Donald Trump again urged China to do something about North Korea’s increasingly hostile actions in the region, insisting that the United States would act if China did not.
Trump recapped his meeting with President Xi Jinping last week at Mar-a-lago in a series of messages on Twitter on Tuesday.
“North Korea is looking for trouble. If China decides to help, that would be great. If not, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.,” he wrote.
Trump’s statements reflect a growing hostility to North Korea as the United States has sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and it’s supporting fleet to the Korean Peninsula.
“I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the U.S. will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!” Trump added.
North Korea signaled via their state media that officials were “ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.”
Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that Trump wanted China to address the threat posed to North Korea, signaling that the United States was prepared to act unilaterally.
“[W]e understand it creates unique problems for them and challenges and that we would, and are, prepared to chart our own course if this is something China is just unable to coordinate with us,” Tillerson said.
World leaders are now taking Trump’s threats of military action more seriously, particularity after he ordered a missile strike on Syria in response to their use of chemical weapons.