US won’t desert allies on North Korea
PRESIDENT Trump spoke on Monday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after North Korea’s latest firing of an intercontinental missile that could strike the US and the leaders concluded that the regimen “poses a grave” threat to the region.
A White House statement on the call said Abe and Trump “agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries near and far.
Trump “reaffirmed our iron-clad commitment” to defend its allies Japan and South Korea from any attack “using the full range of United States capabilities, ” the statement said.
At the same time, China shot back at Trump after the president said he was “disappointed” that the country wasn’t doing enough to rein in North Korean President Kim Jong Un’s weapons programs.
China’s foreign ministry said Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions did not happen because of China and the world community needs to co-operate to find a solution.
“All parties should have a correct understanding of this,” it said in a statement to Reuters.
And China’s Vice Commerce Minister Qian Keming said North Korea’s military provocations and trade between the US and China are distinct issues.
“We think the North Korea nuclear issue and China-US trade are issues that are in two completely different domains. They aren’t related. They should not be discussed together,” Qian said at a news conference on Monday.
Trump has tried to enlist China, a major trading partner with North Korea, to influence the regimen to curb its weapons development.
On Saturday, Trump’s frustrations led to a series of tweets.
”I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade,” Trump posted on Twitter. “Yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem! ”
North Korea announced on Saturday that it had successfully fired an ICBM that had enough range to strike the US mainland. It was the second test-firing of a long-range missile in July. A rocket launched on July 4 had sufficient trajectory to reach Alaska.
In a show of force, the US flew two B-1 bombers over South Korea and conducted a test of a missile defence system in the Pacific.
Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, on Sunday said the “time for talk is over.”
“China is aware they must act. Japan & SKorea must inc pressure. Not only a US problem. It will req an into solution,” Haley wrote on Twitter.
But Abe said the international community must do more in light of North Korea’s “escalation. ”
”International society, including Russia and China, need to take this seriously and increase pressure,” Abe told reporters after his conversation with Trump.
He also said the two counties would take steps towards concrete action but did not elaborate.
TRUMP BRINGS IN NEW CHIEF OF STAFF
DONALD Trump installed retired Marine Corps general John Kelly as his new chief of staff on Monday, hoping to bring order and discipline to a White House beset by scandal, infighting, low approval ratings and legislative defeats.
Trump confidently predicted the 67-year-old combat veteran — who impressed with a no-nonsense six-month stint at the Department of Homeland Security — would do a “spectacular job.”
“What he has done in terms of homeland security is record-shattering, if you look at the border, if you look at the tremendous results we’ve had,” Trump said.
“I predict that General Kelly will go down as, in terms of the position of chief of staff, one of the great(est) ever.” Kelly inherits the day-to-day running of a White House staff that — far from marching in lock-step — looks like a regiment pinned down by heavy fire, getting mixed messages from its commander and arguing over the way forward.
Kelly replaces Reince Priebus, a longtime Republican Party operative who was forced out last week after the spectacular failure of Trump’s bid to repeal Obamacare and as an ugly in-house feud spilt into the open.
Ohh I hate Trump :p