Trump On North Korea: Clinton, Bush, Obama Failed, I Won't Fail
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) -- A day after the Secretary of State seemed to open the door to talks with North Korea, President Donald Trump appeared to publicly question the move, saying it's a "waste of time" to negotiate.
President Trump took to Twitter Sunday, appearing to cast doubt on the idea that diplomacy could resolve the crisis over North Korea's nuclear program.
While in Beijing Saturday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the U.S. has back channels for communicating with Pyongyang and is using them to gauge the North's willingness to talk.
A day later, Trump hinted that other measures might be necessary.
"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," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN).
Last month, the president told the United Nations that Kim's regime was on a "suicide mission."
"The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea," President Trump said on September 19.
In that same speech, however, Trump expressed hope that U.N. sanctions might convince North Korea to give up its nuclear program.
The State Department said the official U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed. It will continue to try to engage with them even though Pyongyang has shown no interest in such talks.
