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| Trump Says Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ on North Korea | Trump Says Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ on North Korea |
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| WASHINGTON — President Trump seemed to undercut his own secretary of state on Sunday as he belittled the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged crisis with North Korea even as the administration was seeking to open lines of communication. | WASHINGTON — President Trump seemed to undercut his own secretary of state on Sunday as he belittled the prospect of a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear-edged crisis with North Korea even as the administration was seeking to open lines of communication. |
| In a fresh set of Twitter messages from his New Jersey golf club, where he was spending the weekend, Mr. Trump diminished Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson’s outreach to Pyongyang and its autocratic leader, Kim Jong-un, leaving the impression that he was focused on possible military action. On a visit to China, Mr. Tillerson acknowledged on Saturday that he was trying to open talks. | |
| “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Mr. Trump wrote, using the derogatory nickname he has assigned to Mr. Kim. “Save your energy Rex,” he added, “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,” Mr. Trump wrote, using the derogatory nickname he has assigned to Mr. Kim. “Save your energy Rex,” he added, “we’ll do what has to be done!” |
| North Korea has provoked a confrontation with the United States and its Asian allies in recent weeks with its sixth test of a nuclear bomb and its first successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially deliver a warhead to the United States mainland. Mr. Trump has responded by vowing to “totally destroy” North Korea if forced to defend the United States or its allies, while ratcheting up economic pressure through sanctions. | North Korea has provoked a confrontation with the United States and its Asian allies in recent weeks with its sixth test of a nuclear bomb and its first successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially deliver a warhead to the United States mainland. Mr. Trump has responded by vowing to “totally destroy” North Korea if forced to defend the United States or its allies, while ratcheting up economic pressure through sanctions. |
| Mr. Tillerson told reporters traveling with him in Beijing on Saturday that he was seeking a diplomatic solution. “We are probing, so stay tuned,” he said. For the first time, he disclosed that the United States had two or three channels to Pyongyang asking “Would you like to talk?” Therefore, he said, “we’re not in a dark situation, a blackout.” | |
| There have been no indications that Mr. Kim is any more interested in talks than Mr. Trump. He has responded to the president’s threats with more of his own, castigating Mr. Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and suggesting through his foreign minister that he might order the first atmospheric nuclear test the world has seen in 37 years. | There have been no indications that Mr. Kim is any more interested in talks than Mr. Trump. He has responded to the president’s threats with more of his own, castigating Mr. Trump as a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and suggesting through his foreign minister that he might order the first atmospheric nuclear test the world has seen in 37 years. |
| Negotiations with North Korea have long proved frustrating to American leaders. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both tried talks and granted concessions while ultimately failing to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. But national security analysts have said there is no viable military option at this point without risking devastating casualties. | Negotiations with North Korea have long proved frustrating to American leaders. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both tried talks and granted concessions while ultimately failing to prevent North Korea from developing nuclear weapons. But national security analysts have said there is no viable military option at this point without risking devastating casualties. |
| White House officials have had no comment on Mr. Tillerson’s disclosure, and it was unclear whether Mr. Trump was aware of it in advance or was using his Twitter feed to play a diplomatic version of good cop, bad cop with his secretary of state. Mr. Trump plans to visit China, South Korea and Japan in November, among other destinations, to keep up regional pressure on Pyongyang. | |
| Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States had no choice but to seek a diplomatic agreement. | Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States had no choice but to seek a diplomatic agreement. |
| “I think that there’s more going on than meets the eye,” he said on “Meet the Press” on NBC before the president’s tweets. “I think Tillerson understands that every intelligence agency we have says there’s no amount of economic pressure you can put on North Korea to get them to stop this program because they view this as their survival.” | “I think that there’s more going on than meets the eye,” he said on “Meet the Press” on NBC before the president’s tweets. “I think Tillerson understands that every intelligence agency we have says there’s no amount of economic pressure you can put on North Korea to get them to stop this program because they view this as their survival.” |
| “Should we step it up a little bit?” he asked. “The answer is absolutely yes. I mean, we should step it up. I mean, you know, we’re moving to a place where we’re going to end up with a binary choice soon.” | “Should we step it up a little bit?” he asked. “The answer is absolutely yes. I mean, we should step it up. I mean, you know, we’re moving to a place where we’re going to end up with a binary choice soon.” |
| Mr. Tillerson, a former chief executive of Exxon Mobil with no prior government experience, has been deeply frustrated working for Mr. Trump, according to associates, who have said it is not clear how long he will choose to stay. | |
| This was not the first time the secretary of state has been publicly contradicted by Mr. Trump. In June, the president launched a harsh broadside against the Persian Gulf state of Qatar barely an hour after Mr. Tillerson, trying to mediate a dispute among Arab neighbors, called for a “calm and thoughtful dialogue.” | |
| The president has not shied away from undercutting other members of his own team during his eight months in office. The most sensational example came in July, when Mr. Trump spent days publicly castigating Attorney General Jeff Sessions as “very weak” and saying that he regretted appointing him. | |
| The president’s tweets about Mr. Tillerson came on a day when he planned to attend the President’s Cup golf tournament and present the trophy to the winner at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, not far from his own golf club in Bedminster, N.J. He planned to return to Washington in the evening. | |
| He continued to attack critics of his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, which was left without power and with limited fuel, water and other basic services, calling some on the island “ingrates” for not appreciating all he had done. | |
| “We have done a great job with the almost impossible situation in Puerto Rico,” he wrote from his golf club. “Outside of the Fake News or politically motivated ingrates, people are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military.” | |
| Critics said Mr. Trump ought to spend less time worrying about himself and more about the people of Puerto Rico. | |
| “The president, instead of tweeting against the mayor of San Juan, who’s watching her people die and just made a plea for help, ought to roll up his sleeves and get to work here,” Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, said on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “The bottom line is at least for the first week and a half, the effort has been slow-footed, disorganized and not adequate.” | |
| Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, declined to criticize Mr. Trump directly when asked about the storm response on the same program, but agreed that it had not been adequate. “I do think every minute we spend in the political realm bickering with one another over who’s doing what or who’s wrong or who didn’t do right is a minute of energy and time that we’re not spending trying to get the response right,” he said. |