Punk in Finland

Exclusive: Trump says 'major, major' conflict with North Korea possible, but seeks diplomacy

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday a major conflict with North Korea is possible in the standoff over its nuclear and missile programs, but he would prefer a diplomatic outcome to the dispute.

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters in an Oval Office interview ahead of his 100th day in office on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Trump said he wanted to peacefully resolve a crisis that has bedeviled multiple U.S. presidents, a path that he and his administration are emphasizing by preparing a variety of new economic sanctions while not taking the military option off the table.

"We'd love to solve things diplomatically but it's very difficult," he said.

In other highlights of the 42-minute interview, Trump was cool to speaking again with Taiwan's president after an earlier telephone call with her angered China.

He also said he wants South Korea to pay the cost of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system, which he estimated at $1 billion, and intends to renegotiate or terminate a U.S. free trade pact with South Korea because of a deep trade deficit with Seoul.

Asked when he would announce his intention to renegotiate the pact, Trump said: “Very soon. I’m announcing it now.”

Trump also said he was considering adding stops to Israel and Saudi Arabia to a Europe trip next month, emphasizing that he wanted to see an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He complained that Saudi Arabia was not paying its fair share for U.S. defense.

Asked about the fight against Islamic State, Trump said the militant group had to be defeated.

"I have to say, there is an end. And it has to be humiliation," he said, when asked about what the endgame was for defeating Islamist violent extremism.

XI 'TRYING VERY HARD'

Trump said North Korea was his biggest global challenge. He lavished praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for Chinese assistance in trying to rein in Pyongyang. The two leaders met in Florida earlier this month.

"I believe he is trying very hard. He certainly doesn’t want to see turmoil and death. He doesn’t want to see it. He is a good man. He is a very good man and I got to know him very well.

"With that being said, he loves China and he loves the people of China. I know he would like to be able to do something, perhaps it's possible that he can’t," Trump said.

Trump spoke just a day after he and his top national security advisers briefed U.S. lawmakers on the North Korean threat and one day before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will press the United Nations Security Council on sanctions to further isolate Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programs.

The Trump administration on Wednesday declared North Korea "an urgent national security threat and top foreign policy priority." It said it was focusing on economic and diplomatic pressure, including Chinese cooperation in containing its defiant neighbor and ally, and remained open to negotiations.

U.S. officials said military strikes remained an option but played down the prospect, though the administration has sent an aircraft carrier and a nuclear-powered submarine to the region in a show of force.

Any direct U.S. military action would run the risk of massive North Korean retaliation and huge casualties in Japan and South Korea and among U.S. forces in both countries.

'I HOPE HE'S RATIONAL'

Trump, asked if he considered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to be rational, said he was operating from the assumption that he is rational. He noted that Kim had taken over his country at an early age.

"He's 27 years old. His father dies, took over a regime. So say what you want but that is not easy, especially at that age.

"I'm not giving him credit or not giving him credit, I'm just saying that's a very hard thing to do. As to whether or not he's rational, I have no opinion on it. I hope he's rational," he said.

Trump, sipping a Coke delivered by an aide after the president ordered it by pressing a button on his desk, rebuffed an overture from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who told Reuters a direct phone call with Trump could take place again after their first conversation in early December angered Beijing.

China considers neighboring Taiwan to be a renegade province.

"My problem is that I have established a very good personal relationship with President Xi," said Trump. "I really feel that he is doing everything in his power to help us with a big situation. So I wouldn’t want to be causing difficulty right now for him.

"So I would certainly want to speak to him first."

Trump also said he hoped to avoid a potential government shutdown amid a dispute between congressional Republicans and Democrats over a spending deal with a Saturday deadline looming.

But he said if a shutdown takes place, it will be the Democrats' fault for trying to add money to the legislation to "bail out Puerto Rico" and other items.

He also defended the one-page tax plan he unveiled on Wednesday from criticism that it would increase the U.S. deficit, saying better trade deals and economic growth would offset the costs.

"We will do trade deals that are going to make up for a tremendous amount of the deficit. We are going to be doing trade deals that are going to be much better trade deals," Trump said.

GEOMETRINEN IHME wrote:mitä vittua

More than five months after his victory and two days shy of the 100-day mark of his presidency, the election is still on Trump's mind. Midway through a discussion about Chinese President Xi Jinping, the president paused to hand out copies of what he said were the latest figures from the 2016 electoral map.

"Here, you can take that, that's the final map of the numbers," the Republican president said from his desk in the Oval Office, handing out maps of the United States with areas he won marked in red. "It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us."

He had copies for each of the three Reuters reporters in the room.

HotPantsHomo wrote:Toki onhan tässä se sama juttu, mikä täälläkin on moneen kertaan todettu, että nyt nähdään mitä takapirut ja liskot haluaa, kun presidenttinä viimein istuu hyödyllinen hölmö.

Pohjois-Korea on tehnyt ohjuskokeen, uutisoi Etelä-Korean uutistoimisto Yonhap. Tieto on peräisin Etelä-Korean puolustusministeriöstä.

-Pohjois-Korea laukaisi tunnistamattoman ohjuksen aikaisin tänä aamuna Pyeonganin maakunnan läheisyydestä, siteerasi uutistoimisto puolustusministeriön tiedotetta.

Yonhapin mukaan tietoja ohjuksen reitistä ei ollut vielä saatavilla.

Pari viikkoa sitten Pohjois-Korea teki epäonnistuneen ohjuskokeen. Jännitteet Korean niemimaalla ovat viime viikkoina kasvaneet, kun Yhdysvaltain presidentti Donald Trumpin hallinto on varoittanut jopa ennaltaehkäisevistä iskuista Pohjois-Koreaan.

http://yle.fi/uutiset/3-9588712

U.S. officials this week requested the geographic coordinates of aid groups working in Somalia, according to a document obtained by The Intercept — a move that could indicate an escalation of military action against the Shabab. The notice to NGOs comes a month after President Trump declared portions of the country an “area of active hostilities,” giving the military wider scope to launch strikes that could potentially kill more civilians.

Nahkanuijan nuupauttaja wrote:Ei se talous sitten pompahtanutkaan huimaan kasvuun, vaikka pressaksi tulikin Trump. Itse asiassa kasvu hiipui.

Buzzfeed wrote:A A Trump Supporter Allegedly Attacked Students At A Kentucky University With A Machete

The suspect, who once wrote a BuzzFeed post about conservatives being discriminated against on liberal campuses, reportedly asked students about their political affiliations as he attacked them.

A former student of Kentucky's Transylvania University was arrested Friday after he allegedly stormed a campus café with a machete and a bag of knives, quizzed students on their political affiliations, and injured two women.

Mitchell W. Adkins allegedly entered the cafe on the Lexington campus shortly before 9 a.m. local time before threatening patrons and employees, the Lexington Police Department said in a statement.

Two women suffered non-life threatening injuries. One was taken to a hospital, while the other was treated and released at the scene.

Witnesses told local media the suspect shouted "The day of reckoning is here!" as he began his attack.

"He asked the first girl if she was a Democrat or a Republican. She said Republican. He said okay, then asked some other girl," Michael Soder told Lex18. "By that time, some of my friends were running out and yelling for us to leave, and I tried to stay behind to see if — I mean I didn't know what to do, I wanted to help, but I knew I should get out of there."

"He asked somebody what their political affiliation was, they said ‘Republican’ and the guy said, 'You are safe,'" campus newspaper editor-in-chief Tristan Reynolds told the Lexington Herald-Leader. "And then I realized what was going on and started getting people out.”

“We started to scatter and then very, very quickly campus security was getting everybody sheltered and secure,” Reynolds said. “They were very on it.”

Michele Sparks, the university's vice president for marketing and communications, told BuzzFeed News the cafe is a "popular gathering spot" that was packed with around 30 people at the time of the incident.

She said a staffer at the café quickly pushed a silent alarm, triggering an immediate response from the university's department of public safety.

"Our DPS staff was on site within minutes and apprehended the suspect very rapidly," she said. "He actually cooperated with our DPS at first. When they came into the room, he dropped his weapon pretty quickly, but then there was a minor struggle and he was taken to the ground and handcuffed."

Fox News wrote:Proud American
Trump proclaims May 1 as 'Loyalty Day'
Published April 28, 2017

President Donald Trump on Friday proclaimed May 1 as 'Loyalty Day' as a way to "recognize and reaffirm our allegiance to the principles" upon which America was built and express pride in those ideals, according to a release of the proclamation from the White House.

“The United States stands as the world's leader in upholding the ideals of freedom, equality, and justice. Together, and with these fundamental concepts enshrined in our Constitution, our Nation perseveres in the face of those who would seek to harm it," the proclamation reads.

"We humbly thank our brave service members and veterans who have worn our Nation's uniform from the American Revolution to the present day. Their unwavering loyalty and fidelity has made the world a safer, more free, and more just place. We are inspired by their pride in our country's principles, their devotion to our freedom, and their solemn pledge to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

The proclamation goes on to say that in order to express our country's loyalty to "individual liberties, to limited government, and to the inherent dignity of every human being," May 1 will be known as 'Loyalty Day.'

Trump called on Americans to observe this day with ceremonies in schools and other public places, including reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. He also called upon all government officials to display the flag of the United States on all government buildings and grounds on May 1.