President Trump’s incendiary comments finally caught up with him on Monday, when North Korean foreign minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that Trump’s most recent tweet was considered a “declaration of war.” Ri Yong Ho went on to say that North Korea now reserves the right to “shoot down U.S. bombers,” even when they are not yet inside their airspace.
Although Trump is certainly no stranger to hurling insults and threats, this is the first time that those insults and threats could have dire consequences. In other words, it’s time for President Trump to stop with the childish behavior. Millions of lives are on the line. This is not a joke.
It’s time to set a new tone with North Korea, one based on diplomacy. Both leaders need to understand that in a nuclear war, nobody wins; it is mutually assured destruction.
Trump threatening to bring “fire and fury” to North Korea isn’t helping the situation at all. In fact, it’s only making things worse. You can’t put out a fire with fire—you have to use water.
The best way to go about deescalating the conflict is to have elected diplomats try to reach a peace treaty. If that doesn’t work, then keep introducing tougher U.N. sanctions. If that still doesn’t work, then we need to form a strategy with North Korea’s biggest allies (China and Russia) to figure out a solution.
Speaking of which, it doesn’t help that President Trump has insulted China on numerous occasions. Hello, foot-in-the-mouth.
It’s imperative that the president of the United States act with class, dignity, and grace, even if for no other reason than to be a good role model. Children look up to this man for crying out loud! He’s setting a really poor example for how to approach conflict resolution.
