Donald Trump is warning North Korea “will be met with fire and fury” like the world has never seen, if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threatens the United States.
The comments were seemingly made in response to reports that North Korea has successfully produced a nuclear warhead that’s small enough to fit inside its intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
Trump was scheduled to be talking about the opioid crisis in the U.S. with the Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price at the time he made the comments.
Republican Sen. John McCain says “great leaders” don’t threaten foes unless they’re ready to act – and he’s not certain President Donald Trump is ready to act against North Korea.
McCain, who heads the Armed Services Committee, made the comments Tuesday in an interview on KTAR News in Phoenix.
Later Tuesday, North Korean state media reported that the Asian country was considering a missile strike on Guam, a U.S. territory.
A spokesman for the Korean People’s Army, said a strike plan could be “put into practice in a multi-current and consecutive way any moment,” once leader Kim Jong Un makes a decision.
Earlier Tuesday, the Washington Post and NBC said the communist country had completed manufacturing a warhead that could fit on an ICBM, which pushes North Korea closer to becoming a nuclear power.
The news came just days after North Korea vowed to respond to harsh UN sanctions over recent missile tests.
READ MORE: UN imposes new sanctions on North Korea
“We will make the U.S. pay by a thousandfold for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country,” North Korea said through its state media on Sunday.
On Saturday, the UN Security Council voted to ban exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood, along with limiting the number of North Korean workers foreign companies are allowed to hire. The resolution was drafted by the U.S.
“The North Korean threat has not left us, it is rapidly growing more dangerous,” U.S Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said after the vote.
WATCH: Coverage of North Korean missile program on Globalnews.ca
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On Tuesday morning, Trump vowed to be “tough & decisive,” while he and other world leaders are deciding how to respond to the North Korean threat.
The rise in tensions between the two countries comes as North Korea continues to test missiles that would be able to reach the U.S., officials say. The minimum range for an ICBM is 5,500 kilometres.
The U.S. has also been flexing its military muscles and conducting tests of its anti-missile THAAD weapons system.
Trump is currently away from the White House while renovations are being completed on the president’s home. The 17-day respite and golf course in New Jersey is being called a “working vacation” by Trump’s aids.
— with a file from Adam Frisk and Associated Press
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