President Donald Trump’s first year has been “incredibly disruptive,” prompting allies to question America’s commitment and letting enemies “take advantage of the uncertainty,” former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Mike Mullen said Sunday.
In an interview with ABC News’ “This Week,” the admiral also decried how much closer the United States has moved toward a nuclear war with North Korea, saying, “I don’t see the opportunities to solve this diplomatically at this point.”
“I think it's been incredibly disruptive, certainly unpredictable in many, many ways,” Mullen told host Martha Raddatz of the Trump presidency, adding: “And those who have been our friends for many years ask questions about our commitments to them, to the region, to the leadership that we have exhibited over the last seven years and the institutions that we care about, and our enemies.”
“Those that would do us ill seem to be able to take advantage of the uncertainty as well,” he said, referring to Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
“The president has chosen to …create a great uncertainty,” he declared, and it’s created “an incredibly dangerous climate” especially for North Korea.
“We're actually closer, in my view, to a nuclear war with North Korea and in that region than we have ever been,” he said.
He warned Trump’s rhetoric could “limit the containing ability that …[Defense Secretary] Jim Mattis and [National Security Advisor] H.R. McMaster and [White House Chief of Staff] John Kelly have.”
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