Homeland Security chief on Trump ‘button’ tweet: ‘The president speaks for himself’

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen said Tuesday that “the president speaks for himself” in his tweet claiming he has access to a bigger nuclear launch “button” than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen says “the president speaks for himself” in response to a reporter’s question about a recent tweet in which President Trump states “I too have a Nuclear Button…and my Button works!”

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— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) January 3, 2018

Nielsen assured reporters that the department is taking steps to prepare for “any possible scenario” that could be a threat to the United States.

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“I think we have to continue, as he said, to take the threat for NK very seriously,” Nielsen told reporters. “Certainly at DHS we’re doing all we can to prepare for any possible scenario that would involve the homeland, whether it be from North Korea or any other nation state or terror-status area.”

President Trump on Tuesday mocked the North Korean leader’s New Year’s Day speech in which Kim claimed to have a button to launch a strike on the U.S. on his desk. Trump tweeted that he also has a nuclear launch button and his is “much bigger” and “more powerful.”

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told Reuters this week that North Korea may soon launch another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), following its most powerful launch to date in November that analysts believe could reach the Eastern U.S.

CBS reported Tuesday that North Korea may be preparing for another ICBM test.

The missile activity, according to CBS News, is at the same site where North Korea launched the November ICBM. That missile was the nation’s most advanced to date, capable of reaching the East Coast of the United States, according to analysts.