Trump: "Major, major conflict" with North Korea possible

[Doimper]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/27/politics/trump-north-korea-conflict/

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[Bismarck]

Hopefully it doesn't come to that. War is the last thing we need.

[ProudModerate2]

Well, this is what his voters wanted.
Irrational thinking, leads to irrational actions.
There will be more of this for the next four years.
You don't need to be a genius to figure out that when you put someone in the presidency who has mental issues, that his decisions may/will lead to controversial (and destructive) world events.

I'm not saying this to scare anyone, or to act as a nuisance, but I think the threat of a nuclear explosion somewhere on our planet, is the highest it has been since Reagan was president.
And this increased threat assessment is due to : t-r-u-m-p

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/27/politics/trump-north-korea-conflict/

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Oh, so it's like healthcare! No worries then - he'll try and fail a couple times, do a little damage to the status quo, and then go play fox and the grapes.

[Beet]

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https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/04/26/misplaying-china-card-with-north-korea/xP8y77aOvvOj5E01OyeSHM/story.html

[Joe Biden is your president. Deal with it.]

He's saying it for the lulz. After his threat to pull out of NAFTA, I don't believe him anymore when he says stuff like this. He's probably saying this to sic China on NK.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Iraq got rid of their the WMD we sold them, bent over backwards for the weapons inspectors, and got invaded anyways. North Korea quickly learned the lesson that you'd better really have WMD.

[Middle-aged Europe]

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea," Trump told Reuters amid an ongoing standoff over Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

This is gonna be a HUUUUGGGE. Warfare with North Korea will be tremendous!

[pbrower2a]

He's saying it for the lulz. After his threat to pull out of NAFTA, I don't believe him anymore when he says stuff like this. He's probably saying this to sic China on NK.

First, there is no real peace in Korea -- only an armistice. South Korea lives up to the terms, not posing any meaningful threat to Russia or China. North Korea has an irresponsible leader with extreme delusions of grandeur as one would expect of a a despot who has real power of life and death over anyone. This has been so with President Obama, who could keep North Korean leadership in check with subtle and secretive diplomacy. Someone who respects international law fully understands that an aggressive launch a missile from Entity A directed at Entity E over the airspace of Entities B, C, and D is an act of war against Entities B, C, and D as well as Entity E. In this case "Entity A" is North Korea, "Entity B" is China; "Entity C" is Russia, "Entity D" is Canada, and Entity E" is.... too obvious to mention. President Obama probably had some formalization of consequences in place -- language that reads something like "in the event that the People's Republic of China must take action to protect its airspace from any violation by missiles from the DPRK, the sphere of influence of the People's Republic of China shall extend no farther than the demarcation line as established by the agreements established in the United Nations". That's how an adept legal mind that respects formalities, precedent, and protocol does things.  Obama wanted the all-powerful leader of North Korea to fear China as much as the USA. 

Second,  President Trump  has little respect for the rule of law. Rule of law is essential to formal democracy. "My way or the highway" is fine for a profiteering businessman. Anyone can be fired at the behest of the Boss, and if someone is unwilling to live up to the terms of Donald Trump as a tenant, then he will not be a tenant for long. President Trump acts more like a dictator than any previous President. Nixon stopped far short of this, and it is hard to see anyone from the age in which the federal government had little power any time before Theodore Roosevelt other than the Civil War) could force much. 

Small-government conservatives need recognize that President Trump is a big-government right-winger. He is libertarian about corporate power, invariably taking the side of Big Business  against labor, consumers, the environment, Academia, and state or municipal governments -- but not so libertarian about much else. He is libertarian about little else, using the power of an imperial government in the service of his elitist agenda.

...The Presidency is not the appropriate venue for pranks that can get people killed. That is for the likes of Kim Jong-Un to the extent that the rest of the world tolerates him.

[SoLongAtlas]

Well it's not something that he should broadcast but he is being realistic and honest about it. The chances are there and increasing. Those that say no war by any and all means are not being realistic here from an IR standpoint.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

He's saying it for the lulz. After his threat to pull out of NAFTA, I don't believe him anymore when he says stuff like this. He's probably saying this to sic China on NK.

i wouldn't be too sure — the syria thing gave him a nice ratings bump, and it's almost a certainty he'll try to replicate that in some form at some point (not necessarily with north koreä, of course, but y'know)

[Inmate Trump]

I think he's bluffing, trying to get NK to back down.

I don't think he really knows how to handle the situation at all. ("Nobody knew it could be this complicated.")

I wonder what would happen though, if we DID go to war with NK and it turned out to be a quagmire like Iraq with no quick end in sight and lots of dead soldiers...exactly what would be the response of those who bought into his "we'll always be winning" bs? My bet is their support for Adolf wouldn't waiver one bit.

[Angrie]

I wonder what would happen though, if we DID go to war with NK and it turned out to be a quagmire like Iraq with no quick end in sight and lots of dead soldiers...exactly what would be the response of those who bought into his "we'll always be winning" bs? My bet is their support for Adolf wouldn't waiver one bit.

There would form a cult of the Endsieg.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/27/politics/trump-north-korea-conflict/

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Who knew Trump was a literature fan, much less one capable of recognizing the inherent absurdity of his own position as President?