The warning that North Korea would experience "fire and fury and power" the "likes of which the world has never seen" may not have been tough enough, Trump said. "If North Korea does anything in terms of even thinking about attack of anybody that we love or we represent or our allies or us, they can be very, very nervous," he added.
"Because thing will happen to them like they never thought possible. OK?" Trump said from his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Trump then pivoted to pointing out how Beijing can and should do more to end North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear deterrent force.
"What they've been doing, what they've been getting away with, is a tragedy," Trump said, noting how North Korea's pursuit of nuclear armed ballistic missile on for 25 years under previous presidents. "They've been doing this for many years… he's been pushing the world around for a long time."
As always, Washington and the White House will "consider negotiations" to de-escalate the crisis.
"I have great respect" for the new UN sanctions, but it they may not be as effective as people think, Trump said. "I have great respect for what China and what Russia did — we got 15 to nothing, I have great respect for China and Russia and what they did on sanctions," Trump told reporters.
"There are no quick, surgical military solutions to the North Korea threat," US Senator Patrick Leahy said on Wednesday, adding that "this is a global challenge and the response must be a collective one."
