FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

The tweet “scared the daylights” out of his defence secretary James Mattis, a new book claimed. Mattis begged the President to reconsider and it was eventually pulled before it was ever sent. The US President wrote tweets setting out his vision of the conflict between North Korea and the US, according to an upcoming book by Bob Woodward. At the peak of the tensions between the Washington and Pyongyang in early 2018, Mr Trump had prepared a tweet arguing the two countries’ tensions would ultimately become a two-man clash, according to Watergate journalist Mr Woodward.

This is all about leader versus leader. Man versus man. Me versus Kim Donald Trump

In his book, Fear, Mr Woodward reported the tweet saying: “This is all about leader versus leader. “Man versus man. Me versus Kim.” Mr Woodward also claimed the US President wanted to send a tweet ordering thousands of family members of the 28,500 troops currently in South Korea to leave the country. This announcement would have been interpreted by North Korea as a declaration of war, as it had been previously explained to the US President’s national security staff by a senior figure in the North Korean Communist Party’s executive committee.

Donald Trump nearly started a war with North Korea using Twitter

Mr Mattis and his staff urged Mr Trump to reconsider sending his tweet, as it could have led Kim to attack South Korea, and they eventually succeeded, Mr Woodward wrote. But the president raised again the idea of evacuating South Korea with Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator with whom he plays golf, hoping to receive more support. But his proposal was once again shunned. Mr Graham is believed to have told him: "That is a big frigging deal. “Mr President, I don't think you should ever start this process unless you are ready to go to war."

Donald Trump's drafted tweets 'scared the daylights' out of James Mattis

James Mattis feared Mr Trump's tweets would lead Kim to attack South Korea

The US President has often convened official messages via his favourite social media platform, Twitter, where his account counts 54.3million followers. And he directly addressed Kim more than once before their historical meeting earlier this year. In September 2017, Mr Trump called the North Korean dictator “a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people”. The president even directly threatened Kim in January 2018, when he wrote: “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

Donald Trump denied the claims made by Bob Woodward in his new book