President Donald Trump pulled out of his planned summit in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because he thought North Korea was "playing him," Sen. Lindsey Graham said Friday, while warning that there could be dire consequences for the Asian nation if it does not agree to denuclearize.
"I talked to the president yesterday," the South Carolina senator told NBC's "Today" show. "He thought they were playing him. He thinks that China is pulling back North Korea."
The senator compared the decision to a break up: "It could be the worst divorce in the history of the world, or we could get back together," said Graham, noting that about a month into Trump's presidency, he met with him over the North Korea issue.
"He asked what I thought," said Graham. "I said, 'You have to stop buying what they sell. They have to end the nuclear program."
The only question, said Graham, is "how and when. In terms of when, he wants it to be in his first term. But if diplomacy fails, military action is the only thing left. And it would be utter destruction of the North Korean regime."
Graham said that if statements from North Korea insisting the country will not give up its nuclear program, he believes the Asian nation thinks Trump will use military force.
"For 30 years, they have played us," Graham said. "They're trying to run out the clock. 2019 is a year before a presidential election. They think Trump is like everybody else. He's not."
Maximum pressure against North Korea has worked so far, but if the world backs away, "you put Trump in a box."
The situation will end one way or another, he continued, and if "military action is required, they're going to lose."
If there is war, it will be devastating to the region, and it will be in China's backyard, Graham added.
"I can't stress enough to you how much I talked to [Trump]," said Graham. "It's not if it ends, it's how it ends. When is it going to end? It's going the happen in his first term. The best way to end, is a peace treaty, with the North Koreans, the South Koreans, China and us."
Both Vice President Mike Pence and National Security Adviser John Bolton have referred to the "Libya example" in interviews, using the example of how Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi ended up assassinated after agreeing to give up his nuclear weapons.
"The Libyan example is that the people turn on you as a dictator, and NATO came in to help the people," said Graham. "There's no circumstance I see where the west comes in on behalf of the North Korean people. If there's an uprising against Kim Jong Un, China will end it."
It all ends peacefully, said Graham, if a peace treaty can be reached and North Korea gives up its nuclear program.
"We want to end the nuclear program," he said. "South Korea and Japan, they don't have nuclear weapons. Let me just say this. As the summit fades, war rises. Look for our dependents to be taken out. Hope China knows that the president's threat is going to end in the first term."
Meanwhile, Graham told Fox News' "Fox and Friends" that he thinks Trump did the right thing by pulling out.
"Everybody who's criticizing the president, how well did you do with North Korea?" the senator asked. "We've finally got a president who has gotten their attention. They're playing the same old game they've played for 30 years and Trump's not going to tolerate it."
Trump made a decision in his first 30 days in office that he would not tolerate the North Korean nuclear threat to the United States and the world, said Graham, and the only question is how.
"He prefers to do it diplomatically, where we sit down...we have a win-win, we end the Korean War, we provide them with the security, the economic prosperity they want, and they give up their nukes," he said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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