Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., argued Thursday that President Trump should abandon his threats of “fire and fury” against North Korea, and instead try “urgent” negotiations and more sanctions as an alternative.
“First, they have to stop the reckless, dangerous, scary language which they are using,” Markey said on MSNBC.
“When Secretary Mattis says that if North Korea doesn’t stop that it could lead to the destruction of its people, it could lead to regime change, that’s exactly what they’re most concerned about, and will most likely lead to them continuing to test nuclear weapons and ICBM capacity,” Markey said.
After Trump’s “fire and fury” threat, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis followed up by saying North Korea should not take any action that “would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”
All of those threats came after North Korea’s continuing nuclear and missile testing, and a report this week that the regime may be close to being able to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile capable of hitting parts of the United States.
Markey rejected the Trump administration’s approach, and said the U.S. should instead consider “urgent diplomacy with … ever tightening sanctions around North Korea, much tougher even than the United Nations has.”
