Story highlights US officials on Wednesday warned that the US is nearing an inflection point

As a next move, Trump might seek to crank up pressure on China

Washington (CNN) For months, former US officials and experts warned that President Donald Trump's plan to rely on China to pressure North Korea into giving up its nuclear weapons was futile.

Now, as South Korea's president arrives at the White House, Trump appears to be coming to terms with the reality. China has yet to apply the kind of serious pressure on North Korea that might prompt the rogue regime to tamp down its nuclear and ballistic missile activity -- and he is looking to chart the next phase of the US' efforts to put a stop to those North Korean programs.

Top Trump administration officials on Wednesday warned publicly and privately that the US is nearing an inflection point in its efforts to pressure North Korea into abandoning its bellicose behavior, suggesting that Trump might seek to crank up diplomatic and economic pressure on China -- which accounts for nearly 90% of North Korea's foreign trade.

"There's recognition that there has to be more pressure on the regime. I think what you'll see in the coming days and weeks are efforts to do that," Trump's national security adviser H.R. McMaster said Wednesday in public remarks at a national security conference, noting that "the threat is much more immediate now."

McMaster's remarks came just a couple hours after a senior White House official warned that China is "falling far short" of the level of pressure it could be applying to North Korea and told reporters in a briefing Wednesday that Trump has asked his administration to draw up a list of new sanctions for him to consider.

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