Trump Administration Divided as North Korean Threats Loom

As Donald Trump continues to make inflammatory statements against a dictatorial regime, the rest of his cabinet is actually kind of freaking out about the damage he might cause. After he promised North Korean leaders “fire and fury,” some White House advisers are scrambling to soothe any worries the American people have about the possibilities of a nuclear war, while others are backing Trump’s hardline tough-guy talk.

According to The NYT, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is urging the North Korean government to reach a diplomatic solution and assuring Americans they can “sleep well at night,” although, admittedly, that’s been hard since Nov. 8. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis demands that North Korea “stand down” or face “the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”

“Clearly there is not a coordinated messaging strategy,” says former Obama adviser Evan Medeiros. We’re not sure what’s scarier: that the people running our country are not remotely on the same page, or the fact that whether we enter a nuclear war may be entirely dependent on Rex Tillerson.