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| Trump says Rex Tillerson 'wasting his time' with North Korea negotiations | Trump says Rex Tillerson 'wasting his time' with North Korea negotiations |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A day after his secretary of state said the US had direct lines of communication to North Korea and was “probing” to find ways to resolve escalating nuclear tension between the two countries, Donald Trump tweeted that his top diplomat should “save his energy” as “we’ll do what has to be done!” | A day after his secretary of state said the US had direct lines of communication to North Korea and was “probing” to find ways to resolve escalating nuclear tension between the two countries, Donald Trump tweeted that his top diplomat should “save his energy” as “we’ll do what has to be done!” |
| “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” the president wrote, from his golf club in New Jersey and using the nickname he has adopted for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. | “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful secretary of state, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” the president wrote, from his golf club in New Jersey and using the nickname he has adopted for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. |
| The latest presidential Twitter outburst threatened not only to further escalate the North Korea crisis, but to undermine the nation’s top diplomat at a highly sensitive moment. Tillerson was speaking in Beijing, where he met Chinese president Xi Jinping. | |
| Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have grown as North Korea has tested missiles and a nuclear device, part of its aim to develop a nuclear weapon that could reach the US mainland. Several missiles fired have flown over Japan and Pyongyang threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific ocean. | Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have grown as North Korea has tested missiles and a nuclear device, part of its aim to develop a nuclear weapon that could reach the US mainland. Several missiles fired have flown over Japan and Pyongyang threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific ocean. |
| Trump has responded with taunts and threats, through social media and in speeches including his debut last month at the United Nations in New York which was greeted among diplomats with alarm. | Trump has responded with taunts and threats, through social media and in speeches including his debut last month at the United Nations in New York which was greeted among diplomats with alarm. |
| Tough sanctions on North Korea have been imposed through the UN and the US has promised to deploy “strategic military assets” near the Korean peninsula. | Tough sanctions on North Korea have been imposed through the UN and the US has promised to deploy “strategic military assets” near the Korean peninsula. |
| North Korea’s foreign minister said the country would “shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country”. Ri Yong-ho also said at the UN it was “inevitable” that his country would fire missiles at the US mainland, and said Trump had declared war. | North Korea’s foreign minister said the country would “shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country”. Ri Yong-ho also said at the UN it was “inevitable” that his country would fire missiles at the US mainland, and said Trump had declared war. |
| Trump’s latest diatribe adds to a growing list of vexations for Tillerson, the former CEO of ExxonMobil who only took the job of US secretary of state after his wife told him to. Early in the job Tillerson’s choice of deputy, former diplomat Elliott Abrams, was vetoed by the president and there have been reports that Tillerson has been frustrated by the lion-sized influence over foreign policy exerted by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. | |
| Over the summer there was even speculation about a Tillerson departure, dubbed “Rexit”. | |
| To have the US president publicly slap down a major strategic statement by the country’s top diplomat just 24 hours after it was made carries its own form of humiliation. On Saturday, Tillerson told reporters in China that a channel was open with the North Korean regime. | |
| “We are probing, so stay tuned. We ask: ‘Would you like to talk?’” The former oil executive then said the US had “a couple of, three channels open to Pyongyang”. | |
| “We can talk to them. We do talk to them,” Tillerson said, although he also said “we haven’t even gotten” as far as establishing a dialogue. | “We can talk to them. We do talk to them,” Tillerson said, although he also said “we haven’t even gotten” as far as establishing a dialogue. |
| In a statement, state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization.” | In a statement, state department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said: “North Korean officials have shown no indication that they are interested in or are ready for talks regarding denuclearization.” |
| “I think the whole situation’s a bit overheated right now,” Tillerson said. “I think everyone would like for it to calm down. Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That’d calm things down a lot.” | “I think the whole situation’s a bit overheated right now,” Tillerson said. “I think everyone would like for it to calm down. Obviously it would help if North Korea would stop firing off missiles. That’d calm things down a lot.” |
| On Sunday, a morning he spent stoking broiling controversies over NFL anthem protests and his reaction to a natural disaster in Puerto Rico, the president appeared to disregard such advice. | On Sunday, a morning he spent stoking broiling controversies over NFL anthem protests and his reaction to a natural disaster in Puerto Rico, the president appeared to disregard such advice. |
| Tillerson met Chinese president Xi on Saturday, saying in opening remarks that relations between the two countries would “grow and mature on the strength of the relationship between yourself and President Trump”. | Tillerson met Chinese president Xi on Saturday, saying in opening remarks that relations between the two countries would “grow and mature on the strength of the relationship between yourself and President Trump”. |
| Trump is expected to visit Beijing in November. | Trump is expected to visit Beijing in November. |
| Critical response to Trump’s Twitter storm was quick to come. Ted Lieu, a Democratic member of Congress from California, said that when the president undercuts his secretary of state, “it not only embarrasses Rex Tillerson, it confuses Americans & world leaders”. | |
| Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer in the George W Bush White House, went further, warning: “If President Kennedy had acted this way during the Cuban missile crisis, we would all be dead”. |