Trump is 'milking the North Korea crisis for all it is worth'

Trump is 'milking the North Korea crisis for all it is worth'

US Senators were put on buses to the White House for a briefing on North Korea

Donald Trump seems to have recognised North Korea as a defining issue of his presidency.

He has been sending military hardware to the region, ending America's "era of strategic patience", pressuring China to exert influence on its ally and urging the UN Security Council to impose new sanctions on Pyongyang.

But perhaps the most theatrical element of all of this geopolitical choreography occurred at home, when he "invited" (summoned) the entire US Senate to the White House for a briefing on the issue.

Charitably, this is evidence of a world leader taking the threat of an escalating nuclear crisis very seriously and urging his colleagues to do the same.

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Cynically, the image of grown men and women being loaded on to buses and shipped to the headmaster's office for a stern talking-to projects an image of unmistakable power and influence.


As Trump approaches his 100 day marker, with all the scrutiny that entails, this very much suits him.

Above all, America's new commander in chief is an opportunist.

With crisis and drama comes a chance to distract from real problems at home: the failed healthcare bill, problems funding the border wall, opposition from federal judges on travel bans, an FBI investigation into collusion with Russia.

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In the end there were no great revelations from the unusual Senate briefing.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and top defence and intelligence officials merely repeated, in a statement, that North Korea represented an urgent and growing national security threat.

They said the Trump administration believed pressure on Pyongyang could be exerted through diplomacy and increased economic sanctions, but that America stood ready to defend herself and her allies should it be necessary.

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In other words, unless they were given some explosive classified material that no-one is talking about, there wasn't an obvious reason to haul approximately 100 people in to the White House as the world's cameras watched.

Mr Trump is milking the North Korea crisis for all it is worth.