Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Friday slammed President Trump Donald John TrumpUS reimposes UN sanctions on Iran amid increasing tensions Jeff Flake: Republicans 'should hold the same position' on SCOTUS vacancy as 2016 Trump supporters chant 'Fill that seat' at North Carolina rally MORE's rhetoric toward North Korea as "reckless" and urged him to pursue a diplomatic solution to Washington's escalating tensions with Pyongyang.

"We need to engage in diplomacy. That's the one thing that Donald Trump has not yet done," Lieu said in a video posted on Twitter by VoteVets, a progressive advocacy group.

"And before the president takes us down the dark and bloody path of a catastrophic war, he needs to first engage in diplomacy," he added. "He owes that to the American people and I call on the president to do that first before issuing provocative and senseless and reckless statements."

In the video, Lieu, a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, recalled serving on active duty at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, the U.S. territory that has long been a target of North Korea's threats.

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"We did a whole series of different military exercises, many of which were directed against North Korea," he said. "And I can tell you there are no good military options against North Korea."

Among the challenges posed by a potential U.S. military response to Pyongyang's aggression, he said, is uncertainty about where North Korea keeps its nuclear weapons and how many it has. Also at issue is the country's other weaponry that could be used to strike civilians and U.S. military personnel in South Korea, Japan and Guam, Lieu said.

The California Democrat's comments come as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea continue to rise. On Tuesday, Trump warned that he would unleash "fire and fury" on the North if it continued to threaten the U.S.

North Korea's military responded to that threat, saying that it is developing plans for a possible strike on Guam.

Trump has shown no signs of toning down his language on North Korea, warning – and later reaffirming – on Friday that military solutions to the current standoff with Pyongyang are "locked and loaded."