Almost half of Republicans would support a pre-emptive military strike on North Korea after President Trump's saber-rattling toward the hermit kingdom.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, released Thursday, showed 46 percent of Republicans favor striking North Korea before it strikes the U.S.

The feeling amongst nearly half of Republicans jibes with President Trump's aggressive rhetoric towards Pyongyang is it repeatedly conducts missile and nuclear tests.

Trump in August promised he would impose "fire and fury" on North Korea. Last month, he threatened in his speech at the United Nations to "totally destroy" the country.

And Trump earlier this month said Secretary of State Tillerson was "wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," referring to Kim Jong Un, the North Korea leader.

Tillerson on Sunday sought to assure that diplomacy remains on the table.

"The president has made clear to me that he wants this solved diplomatically," Tillerson told CNN's Jake Tapper. "He's not seeking to go to war. He has made it clear to me to continue my diplomatic efforts, which we are and we will. As I've told others, those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops."