Trump chose his own words for ‘fire and fury’ remarks
BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Donald Trump was speaking in his own words when he vowed to retaliate against North Korean aggression with “fire and fury,” a blunt warning that aides said was largely spontaneous but reflected his growing anger with Pyongyang’s rising nuclear capabilities.
The president’s apparent willingness to improvise marks a sharp departure from the carefully calculated approach past administrations have taken to countering years of over-the-top threats from North Korea and other delicate diplomatic matters. His stunning rhetoric, which suggested a military clash between two nuclear-armed nations, also underscored that the president is willing to apply his unconventional and unpredictable approach to governing to the international crises that cross his desk.
American presidents have long talked tough about U.S. military prowess in confrontations with foreign foes. President Bill Clinton stood on the border between North and South Korea to declare that if Pyongyang deployed nuclear weapons, “it could be the end of their country.” President George W. Bush put North Korea in the “axis of evil,” a trio of nations that included Iraq, which the U.S. invaded the next year.
But Trump’s words — and his apparent spontaneous bluster — still stood out.