Bill English said remarks by US president Donald Trump that ‘fire and fury’ would face North Korea if it continued to threaten the US were ‘more likely to escalate’ the conflict. ‘I think the comments are not helpful in an environment that is very tense,’ English said, adding that his government had yet to express concerns to the US administration directly, but ‘certainly if that type of commentary continued we would … I think we are seeing reaction from North Korea that indicates that kind of comment is more likely to escalate rather than settle things’