Andrea Mitchell: ‘We Do Not Believe That the Generals Signed Off’ on Trump North Korea Threat

As the world continues to reverberate with Donald Trump’s threat to rain fire and fury down on North Korea, some have speculated that the president might be playing 7-D chess  — deliberately ratcheting up rhetoric as part of a calculated strategy to achieve an overall peaceful solution.

It seems, however, that is just wishful thinking.

On Morning Joe Wednesday MSNBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Andrea Mitchell, came on to throw cold water on the idea, saying that she and her team had determined that the remarks from Trump were likely little more than another impulsive outburst.

… or in other words, completely in character.

His remarks “seemed calculated in that he looked down. I thought he had some notes,” said Mitchell before walking back. “All of my reporting is that this was not from General Mattis, not from the generals, that’s what we were up all night trying to sort this through, we do not believe that the generals signed off on this.”

In fact, while the remarks were an unquestionable escalation of rhetoric, Mitchell said the generals were warning that a first strike on North Korea would end disastrously.

“I know that General Mattis has been telling people on the hill and has said publicly, that a pre-emptive strike a first strike option from the U.S. would be catastrophic,” she said. “Obviously they have plans, they’ve been talking about those plans, keeping all of those options on the table, obviously that’s what you do.”

Talk of nuclear conflict has so far dominated Morning Joe, with a healthy portion of coverage dedicated to reminding viewers how Joe and Mika warned the world about Trump and nukes back in August, 2016.

On Wednesday morning, Trump doubled down on the rhetoric, with two very ominous tweets reminding everyone that the U.S. nuclear arsenal was stronger than ever and that the United States had every intention of remaining dominant on the world stage.

[image via screengrab]

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