Hillary Clinton’s former foreign policy adviser compared President Trump’s behavior to that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un after Trump vowed to deliver “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if North Korea continues threatening the U.S.
“The problem with what the president said yesterday is it puts all of the attention on the United States and what the United States is thinking,” Jake Sullivan told CBS. “Right now the attention should be on North Korea and building pressure against North Korea … It just doesn’t help when our allies and the countries in the region can’t tell whether it’s Donald Trump or Kim Jong Un who’s the crazier one.”
Ex-Clinton FP adviser: It just doesn’t help when our allies “can’t tell whether it’s Donald Trump or Kim Jong-Un who’s the crazier one.” pic.twitter.com/ns6WZb9z0t— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 9, 2017
Sullivan, who as a member of the Obama administration was a key player in helping bring about the Iran nuclear deal, said diplomacy is needed to de-escalate the “urgent” North Korean threat.
“If you look at what we’re dealing with with North Korea right now, we are running up against the possibility of having to use military force to stop the North Koreans from putting a bomb on top of a missile,” he said. “That is not a concern we have today with Iran because Iran’s nuclear program is in a box. Why? Because of the nuclear deal. So blowing up the Iranian nuclear deal at a moment when we’re dealing with North Korea seems like it’s creating a problem that doesn’t currently exist.”
The Iran nuclear deal is not perfect, Sullivan added, but said it’s “a heck of a lot better situation” than the conflict with North Korea.
“The last thing we want to do is put Iran on a path where they represent the same kind of threat that North Korea does,” Sullivan said.
Throughout the 2016 campaign, Trump condemned the nuclear deal made by former President Barack Obama and promised to “rip it up” if elected. In July, however, he again certified that Iran is complying with the deal.
Trump will have to recertify or declare Iran in violation of the deal next in October.
