Ex-ambassador: Trump ‘trying to out-North Korean the North Koreans’

President Trump is “trying to out-North Korean the North Koreans,” which “makes people nervous,” former Ambassador Christopher Hill told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

“I think he’s trying to out-North Korean the North Koreans, so let’s see if that works,” said Hill, who previously served in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations as ambassador to Macedonia, Poland, South Korea and Iraq.

North Korea’s failed missile launch on Sunday has security experts debating how the Trump administration should respond to the country’s growing nuclear ambitions.

{mosads}Some have suggested the U.S. install nuclear weapons in South Korea that could defend against a North Korean attack, while others have speculated about a potential plan to assassinate North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

Trump has responded with heated rhetoric and military maneuvering that has many wondering how far he’ll go to counter an aggressive Pyongyang.

But Hill warned the president is not in a position to “bluff.”

“Great powers can’t really bluff,” Hill added. “So when you talk in those terms, you’ve got to be prepared to back it up. And I guess that’s what worries people the most.”

“Certainly it makes people nervous when they’re not quite sure what he means by it,” Hill said.