NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump on Friday [7-26-19] downplayed North Korea’s missile tests that took place the day before, saying he wasn’t surprised by the short range launches and shrugging off the volatile nation’s warning to South Korea. Despite North Korea calling the tests a ‘solemn warning’ to its southern neighbors, Trump argued to reporters in the Oval Office that he didn’t view the incident as a setback to potential nuclear talks with leader Kim Jong Un because ‘many people have those missiles’…A reporter then said the president didn’t sound surprised by the tests, to which Trump responded: ‘Not at all.’ The Associated Press reported that North Korea called the tests a ‘solemn warning’ targeted at ‘South Korean military warmongers.’ Though Pyongyang pointedly avoided calling out the U.S., the test of ‘a new type of tactical guided weapon’ came as the U.S. and South Korea planned to hold joint military drills in the region. But the president brushed off those concerns, as well, asserting that they weren’t his problem.”
–Caitlin Oprysko, “Trump downplays latest North Korean missile tests,” Politico, July 26, 2019 5:53 pm