Adam Schiff Unloads On Trump For Making The Bad N. Korea Situation Even Worse

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) didn’t pull any punches when he described Trump’s behavior towards North Korea as erratic and making a bad situation even worse.

The ranking member of House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) said in a statement provided to PoliticusUSA:

There is no question that the threat posed by the North Korean regime is real and growing more dangerous each day, and it is incumbent on the United States to do whatever is necessary to protect the nation and our allies. As I have said since the beginning of this Administration, left unchecked the North Koreans are likely to be able to marry their nuclear capability to an increasingly sophisticated intercontinental ballistic missile technology capable of striking the United States.

Secretary Tillerson is right to emphasize a diplomatic resolution of this growing danger to the world. While nothing can be taken off the table, the military option would be catastrophic and involve a potentially massive loss of life — American, South Korean, Japanese and North Korean. President Trump would be well to keep this in mind. The erratic and fiery belligerence of his statements and tweets do little to defuse the situation and threaten to make a bad situation worse. He should let Secretaries Tillerson and Mattis, and UN Ambassador Haley do their jobs without taking actions that hamper their efforts.

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The economic sanctions levied by the United Nations Security Council this weekend are a positive step as they hold the prospect of further choking off trade supporting the regime. Increased economic pressure may improve prospects that North Korea will choose diplomacy over further weapons development and provocation. The power of these sanctions to coerce North Korea will depend largely on whether China will enforce them; we will need to monitor this closely and inform China that secondary sanctions on Chinese banks, an expanded U.S. naval presence in the region and broader missile defense may be necessary if the existing efforts are unsuccessful.

It isn’t said often enough that a defining characteristic of the Trump presidency is his ability to take a bad situation and make it worse. Trump has escalated the North Korea problem by treating it like it is an episode of The Apprentice. America needs steady, calm, competent leadership.

Trump has defined his presidency with his threats to North Korea, and the damage will not be undone anytime soon. The word erratic is increasingly being used by both Democrats and Republicans to describe Trump’s behavior. This president is unstable, and it speaks volumes that people like Adam Schiff are calling on the White House to push Trump out of the way and take the keys to the country back from the drunk six-year-old president before he launches a nuclear war.

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