Trump needs to state clear message at UN about North Korea: Sen. Rounds
Sen. Mike Rounds on Sunday urged President Donald Trump to convey a very clear message to North Korea during the president’s upcoming address at the United Nations General Assembly.
“I think he makes it very clear that there are military options, but that we would prefer to have a diplomatic solution that would be better for everyone,” Rounds, R-S.D., told Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “I think that's got to be his message to begin with.”
Despite multiple rounds of sanctions—the latest issued by the U.N. Security Council last week after North Korea’s claim that it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb—the Hermit Kingdom has shown no signs of curbing its nuclear weapons program. As a result, the United States has pressured China, North Korea’s largest trading partner, to help quell North Korea’s threats and missile tests by threatening economic penalties.
Rounds said the administration must send a message to China too. However, he said that if the U.S. were to issue any type of sanctions, it could trigger its own repercussions.
“Do we take the pain and the short-term in order to move them in a positive direction or do we possibly have a much more difficult outcome with a military action at a later date?” Rounds asked. “We're hopeful that China would also recognize that long term, they have a rogue nation on their neighbor and that they are able to negotiate with us so that they don't see U.S. troops on that border. That's what they are concerned with.”