President Donald Trump will speak by telephone with the leaders of China and Japan on Sunday, in talks likely to be dominated by North Korea’s nuclear drive and the threats posed by its belligerent leadership.
The Trump administration has been growing increasingly exasperated with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s regime, which has staged a barrage of missile tests in recent months.
Trump had been pinning his hopes on China-North Korea’s main diplomatic ally-to bring pressure to bear on Pyongyang, but declared last week that their efforts had failed.
He has presented sanctions as the best way to proceed with the hermit state, opting for that approach over dialogue with the regime.
On Sunday, Trump will speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping at 8:45 pm (0045 GMT Monday) and with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at 8:00 pm.
During talks with South Korean leader Moon Jae-In-who has pushed for a policy of engagement with Pyongyang-on Friday, Trump called for a “determined response” to the North. But the pair failed to map out a joint strategy on how to respond to North Korean threats.
“The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed, many years it has failed. Frankly, that patience is over,” Trump said.
There was also deep anger in the United States after Otto Warmbier, an American student who was detained in North Korea on a tourist trip around 18 months ago, was returned home in a coma earlier this month. He died several days later.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump defended his aggressive use of Twitter on Saturday just hours after firing off his latest volley in his escalating feud with US media.
Following an early morning Twitter tirade at CNN, NBC and a morning show host he taunted as “dumb as a rock,” the president then went on the defensive, touting his electoral accomplishments as justification for his increasingly hostile rhetoric.
“The FAKE & FRAUDULENT NEWS MEDIA is working hard to convince Republicans and others I should not use social media – but remember, I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches and social media,” Trump said on Twitter. “I had to beat #FakeNews, and did. We will continue to WIN!” he posted, before ending the day at a rally in Washington that included a similar anti-media barrage.
In recent days, the US leader has railed against major news organizations as “fake news,” and launched a crude personal attack on Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, who headline the “Morning Joe” program on the left-leaning MSNBC cable network.
“Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses.
Too bad!” he wrote Saturday, seemingly trying to get in the final word in his clash with the journalists.
Apparently stung by critical coverage on the show, Trump on Thursday had tweeted: “I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore).
“Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said
