Is Trump's tough talk on North Korea helping or hurting?
Rep. Adam Kinzinger reacts to new Fox News polling on the issue.
President Trump took to Twitter early Monday with another warning for Pyongyang strongman Kim Jong Un, slamming more than two decades of U.S. policy toward North Korea that “didn’t work.”
“Our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with North Korea for 25 years, giving billions of dollars & getting nothing. Policy didn’t work!” Trump tweeted Monday morning.
Over the last week, the president has made a series of vague and somewhat cryptic comments with regard to North Korea and other global threats.
“Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “…hasn’t worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, making fools of U.S. negotiators. Sorry, but only one thing will work!”
The weekend tweets came after the president’s Thursday meeting with senior military leaders and their spouses, where he told reporters that “this might be the calm before the storm.” When asked to elaborate on Friday, Trump said, “You’ll find out.”
TRUMP TWEETS 'ONLY ONE THING WILL WORK' ON NORTH KOREA
The president has repeatedly criticized the U.S. diplomatic strategy as it pertains to North Korea, continuously saying that “talking is not the answer.” He seemingly rebuked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson a week ago, saying he was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.”
“Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” Trump tweeted last weekend.
Reuters reported that Kim Jong Un said over the weekend that his country’s nuclear weapons were a “powerful deterrent firmly safeguarding the peace and security in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia” against “protracted nuclear threats of the U.S. imperialists.”
In recent weeks, the rogue regime has launched two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth nuclear test.
Members of the president’s Cabinet, like Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, have said the U.S. strategy will be a combination of both military and diplomatic efforts, but warned North Korea that any threats to the U.S. or its allies would be met with an “effective and overwhelming” military response.
The president also pivoted Monday morning to another topic—the NFL.
“The trip by @VP Pence was long planned. He is receiving great praise for leaving game after the players showed such disrespect for country!” Trump tweeted.
The vice president traveled to Indianapolis over the weekend and attended the Indianapolis Colts vs. San Francisco 49ers game on Sunday. He left when players didn't stand for the anthem.
The vice president’s move to leave the game is the latest in the weeks-long feud between the Trump administration and the NFL, which was spurred by comments made by the president at a rally last month.
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“Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say ‘get that son of a b--- off the field right now? Out! He’s fired! He’s fired!” Trump said last month, drawing criticism from NFL players, as well as NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Fox News' Jennifer Bowman contributed to this report.