Do You Believe Trump Will Use Military Force Against North Korea? Nearly All Americans Already Do.

And Americans Are Increasingly Worried About North Korea as a Nuclear Threat

As President Trump departed Washington Friday for his first extended overseas trip, the longest trip to Asia by an American president in more than a quarter century, administration officials say that he is seeking assistance in the region for help to pressure North Korea to stand down from a nuclear crisis. He is scheduled to visit Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Friday returning to Washington on November 14.

Trump will fly on Friday to Hawaii, stopping for a briefing on U.S. military forces in the Pacific and a visit to Pearl Harbor. The president is scheduled to visit Japan and South Korea in search of a united front against North Korea before going to Beijing, where he will push Chinese President Xi Jinping to get tougher with Pyongyang.

Trump’s trip, however, comes as a new Pew Research Center survey finds an overwhelming majority (84%) of Americans fear that the president is “really willing to use military force against North Korea.”  Much of these factors are based on the public’s perception that North Korea’s capability and its willingness to use nuclear weapons against the United States has been increased by the escalating tensions between Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

During a recent interview with Fox News Channel as reported by Reuters, Trump was asked if he planned to be tough on China over thorny issues including trade, intellectual property theft, and subsidies.

“You have to understand something – very important,” he responded. “We have a problem called North Korea.”

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping “has been pretty terrific” in cutting Pyongyang off from banking and oil systems. He added that Japan had reason to be worried about North Korea and alluded to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s campaign for a military buildup against that threat.

“Well, you know Japan is a warrior nation,” he said. “I tell China and I tell everyone else that, listen, you’re going to have yourself a big problem with Japan pretty soon if you allow this to continue with North Korea.”

According to the Pew survey, about seven out of ten Americans (71%) say the U.S. should take North Korea’s nuclear threats “very seriously,” up from 56% in 2013. And more say North Korea is capable of reaching the U.S. with a nuclear missile – and is “really willing” to follow through on threats to use nuclear weapons against the U.S. – than did so four years ago.

Pew also noted substantial majorities in both parties – and across all demographic categories – say Donald Trump is willing to use military force against North Korea. Nearly nine in ten Republicans (88%) say Trump is “really willing” to use military force, as do 83% of Democrats. 

By contrast, there are deep partisan differences in confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the situation with North Korea. Among the public overall, 39% say they are very or somewhat confident in Trump’s handling of this situation, 13% are not too confident, and 46% are not at all confident.

Fully 80% of Republicans and Republican leaners say they are at least somewhat confident in Trump’s ability to handle the situation in North Korea, compared with just 9% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. 

Reporting by Brody Levesque for NCRM, & Reuters

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Image: DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith via Flickr 

If you find NCRM valuable, would you please consider making a donation to support our independent journalism?