President Trump on Tuesday refuted remarks from Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that Trump’s threats against other nations put the U.S. “on the path to World War III.”
“We were on the wrong path before,” Trump told reporters, according to White House pool reports.
“All you have to do is have to take a look. If you look over the last 25 years, through numerous administrations, we were on the path to a very big problem, a problem like this world has never seen. We’re on the right path right now, believe me,” he said.
{mosads}The comment from Corker in an interview with The New York Times is part of an escalating feud between the senator and Trump that reached the realm of the personal over the weekend.
Trump in a series of tweets Sunday morning said Corker, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, “didn’t have the guts” to run for re-election in Tennessee. He also claimed that Corker had sought his endorsement, which he said he had declined.
Corker quickly shot back on Twitter, describing the White House as “an adult day care center.” His chief of staff later said Trump encouraged Corker to launch a re-election bid, even offering his endorsement.
The day ended with Corker’s interview in The New York Times, where the senator said Trump “concerns me.”
“He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation,” Corker told the newspaper.
Trump last month issued a threat to North Korea on Twitter during the United Nations General Assembly, saying “they won’t be around much longer” if North Korea’s foreign minister “echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man,” a reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.