Poll: More than two-thirds say Trump’s rhetoric on North Korea unhelpful

More than two-thirds of U.S. voters say President Trump’s rhetoric toward North Korea is unhelpful and believe diplomacy and sanctions are the best way to rein in Pyongyang’s weapons programs, according to a Fox News poll out Thursday.

Seventy percent of respondents said Trump’s rhetoric regarding the reclusive Asian nation is not helpful, while just 23 percent said otherwise, the poll found. 

Trump has ratcheted up his rhetoric against Pyongyang in recent months, saying in August that he would unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea if it continued to threaten the U.S.

More recently, he has taken to referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as “Little Rocket Man.”

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The war of words escalated to new heights this week after North Korea’s foreign minister said that a tweet in which Trump claimed that North Korea “won’t be around much longer” amounted to a declaration of war.

Voter disapproval of Trump’s handling of North Korea overall is also on the rise, from 45 percent in July to 50 percent in August and 55 percent in September, according to the new Fox News poll. 

A strong majority of respondents — 61 percent — said they see diplomacy as the best way to halt North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development programs. Conversely, 27 percent said that threatening military action is Washington’s best bet.

Relations between the U.S. and North Korea have sunk to a 50-year low in recent months as Pyongyang seeks to ramp up the pace of its weapons tests. Earlier this month, the North detonated what government officials said was a hydrogen bomb — a development that, if true, would signal a major milestone in the country’s nuclear program.

The Fox News poll was conducted from Sept. 24 to 26 and sampled 1,017 registered voters. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.