Sen. John McCain said Friday that the biggest threat facing the United States is not coming from the Middle East, it is coming from the “crazy fat kid” in North Korea — alluding to the nation’s leader Kim Jong-un.

As a result, Mr. McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was a savvy move for President Trump to launch airstrikes against Syria on the same day that he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, arguing it could help convince the Asian giant to do more to thwart North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

“The most immediate crisis right now is this crazy fat kid,” Mr. McCain said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Everything I have read about him is he is not rational.”

The Arizona Republican said Mr. Kim is the worst kind of adversary because he is an irrational person with nuclear weapons.

Mr. McCain said Mr. Trump’s military action will help restore credibility that was lost when former President Barack Obama refused to enforce his “red line” regarding chemical weapons.

“Now, the president basically has reversed that action and restored that credibility, and coincidences are nice,” Mr. McCain said with a grin. “I am glad he is talking to the Chinese president at the same time.”

Mr. McCain said the United States should now establish safe zones in the country and train the Free Syrian Army.

“I would like to say despite all the enthusiasm we see this morning, if I could quote [Winston] Churchill, it is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end,” he said.

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