US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Thursday denies any divergence of views with Donald Trump over the response to North Korea’s recent missile launch, after he appeared to undercut the president’s tough rhetoric.
Mattis had argued Wednesday that there was still room for diplomacy in dealing with Pyongyang’s provocative ballistic missile launches, shortly after Trump said negotiations were “not the answer.”
“‘Diplomatic’ can include economic sanctions, United Nations sanctions, it’s not just talking. I didn’t contradict anything the president said. We’re not talking to the North Koreans right now,” Mattis tells reporters at the Pentagon.
“I agree with the president… We should not be talking right now to a nation that’s firing missiles over the top of Japan, an ally,” he adds.
“We’re working diplomatically with Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson in the lead, and I maintain behind that military options for the president, to back up the diplomacy. But we’re not done with diplomacy.”
US Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis holds a press briefing at the Pentagon on May 19, 2017. (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb)
— AFP
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