In a threat that rivalled the doomsday language often used by Kim Jong-un, Donald Trump threatened “fire and fury” against any threats from North Korea.
Trump addition of the remarks “like the world has never seen” led many to believe the U.S. president had promised nuclear attacks against the Hermit Kingdom, leading to spikes in internet searches for World War III and Armageddon.
Brought to you from a golf course in Bedminster, N.J., here’s a guide to the first week of the president’s 17-day “working vacation.”
WATCH: Trump’s ‘working vacation’ a ‘healthy’ break for all presidents to take says former White House staffer
Aug 10: The U.S. President is ‘bereft of reason,’ and thanks, Vladimir!
The war of words between Trump and North Korea continued to escalate on Thursday with the president saying his now-infamous “fire and fury” comment may not have been tough enough.
“If anything, maybe that statement wasn’t tough enough,” Trump told reporters at his New Jersey golf club. “It’s about time someone stood up for the people of our country.”
READ MORE: Donald Trump says his ‘fire and fury’ comments may not have been tough enough
Trump’s comments came after North Korea announced a detailed plan to launch missiles aimed off the coast of the U.S. territory of Guam, while also calling the president “bereft of reason.”
“Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him,” said General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army, in a statement released by KCNA, North Korea’s state-run media.
WATCH: Could Donald Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ comment backfire?
Kim added that Trump is “extremely getting on the nerves” of his soldiers by making comments that showed his “senility.”
The North revealed Thursday that it had finalized a plan to fire four of its Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny island, which hosts 7,000 U.S. military personnel on two main bases and has a population of just over 160,000 people.
READ MORE: Could Canada be drawn into a Second Korean War? It depends how it starts
Japan and South Korea vowed military action if Pyongyang were to execute its plan.
Also on Thursday, Trump made an about-face in the battle against opioids when he declared the issue a national emergency.
“The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I’m saying officially, right now, it is an emergency,” Trump told reporters. “It’s a national emergency. We’re going to spend a lot of time, a lot of effort and a lot of money on the opioid crisis.”
WATCH: Trump on opioid crisis in the U.S.
Trump’s announcement came two days after he refused to act on the recommendation of the presidential opioid commission, which had urged him to “declare a national emergency.”
Meanwhile, Trump also thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for cutting U.S. diplomatic staff and Russia because it helped to “cut down our payroll.”
It was not clear whether the president was joking.
Aug 9: From ‘fire and fury’ to ‘enveloping fire’
Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea reached new heights after Pyongyang announced it was studying a plan to create an “enveloping fire” in areas around Guam with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles.
In a statement, the North Korean army described Andersen Air Force Base on Guam as a “beachhead” for a potential U.S. invasion of the North that it needed to neutralize and said plans would be ready by mid-August.
WATCH: North Korea details Guam missile strike plan
The heightened rhetoric had many residents on the tiny island worried, but Guam’s leaders remained calm.
“They’re now telegraphing their punch, which means they don’t want to have any misunderstandings. I think that’s a position of fear,” Guam’s governor, Eddie Calvo, told Reuters.
Also on Wednesday, Trump took to Twitter to scold Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell for failing to spearhead the GOP drive to repeal Obamacare.
“Senator Mitch McConnell said I had ‘excessive expectations,’ but I don’t think so. After 7 years of hearing Repeal & Replace, why not done?” Trump tweeted, before he followed that up with additional posts criticizing the senator.
READ MORE: FBI raided home of Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that FBI agents had executed a predawn raid at the Virginia home of Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, on July 26.
The raid, under special counsel Robert Mueller, indicated an intensifying investigation of possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia which is now focused on the financial dealings of Trump associates.
And a giant inflatable chicken bearing the signature Trump hairstyle was seen floating around the nation’s capital Wednesday afternoon.
WATCH: Giant inflatable chicken resembling Donald Trump outside White House
Pictures posted to social media showed the “Chicken Don,” an angry-looking balloon with golden hair and a sour expression that could be seen in a green space next to the White House.
Meanwhile, Trump’s boyhood home has been listed on Airbnb for $725 per night. It’s the place where Trump was “likely conceived,” according to a statement that hangs in a bedroom.
Aug 8: Trump threatens North Korea with ‘fire and fury’
Donald Trump declared Tuesday that North Korea will meet with “fire” and “fury” like nothing people have witnessed if it keeps threatening America.
“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen,” the president told reporters.
WATCH: Trump says North Korea will unleash ‘fire and fury’ if they threaten U.S.
Trump’s statement followed reports that North Korea had successfully created a miniaturized nuclear warhead capable of fitting inside a missile and came just hours after North Korea declared the U.S. would “pay dearly” for implementing punitive U.N. sanctions.
READ MORE: Could Canada be drawn into a Second Korean War? It depends how it starts
And while the president remained silent on the bombing at a Minnesota mosque on August 5, one of his advisers hinted that the blast may have been a false flag attack perpetrated by the left.
“There’s a great rule, all initial reports are false,” White House advisor Sebastian Gorka said in an interview with MSNBC.
“We’ve had a series of crimes committed, alleged hate crimes, by right-wing individuals in the last six months that turned out to actually have been propagated by the left.
“When you’ve had people, fake hate crimes in the last six months with some regularity I think it’s wise, don’t you, to find out exactly what’s going on before you make statements when in fact they could turn out to be not who you are expecting.”
WATCH: Explosion at mosque shakes community in Minnesota
The U.S. Department of Justice issued a strong statement condemning the attack, while the FBI has begun investigating and is searching for a suspect.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has documented 1,863 incidents of hate crimes that took place between Trump’s election in November 2016 up to March 31, 2017, while the Council on American-Islamic Relations said anti-Muslim hate crimes had increased 91 per cent since January.
Aug 7: Trump attacks Blumenthal
On Monday, Trump began his “working vacation” by lashing out at Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal via Twitter, calling him a “phony Vietnam con artist.”
Blumenthal appeared on CNN speaking about Russian involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
“It was purposeful and relentless, and it involved propaganda and hacking into our voting machines or at least an attempt to do it and potential collusion by the Trump campaign and then obstruction of justice. That investigation must be pursued,” Blumenthal said.
READ MORE: Trump says his base is ‘stronger than ever,’ slams ‘phony’ poll numbers
Minutes later, Trump tweeted: “Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist!”
Trump has previously targeted the Connecticut lawmaker over a 2010 controversy in which Blumenthal apologized over remarks that he had “served” in Vietnam, even though he did his full service in the United States.
Trump managed to avoid service in the Vietnam War through a series of student deferments and a medical deferment for a bone spur in his foot.
With files from the Associated Press and Reuters
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