Haley: If diplomacy doesn’t work, Mattis will ‘take care of’ North Korea

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said that if diplomatic measures with North Korea continue to fail, Defense Secretary James Mattis is ready to “take care” of the situation.

“We wanted to be responsible and go through all diplomatic means to get their attention first. If that doesn’t work, Gen. Mattis will take care of it,” Haley told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.” 

“If North Korea keeps on with this reckless behavior, the United States has to defend itself or defend its allies in anyway, North Korea will be destroyed, and we know that and none of us want that. None of us want war,” she continued. 

{mosads}Haley’s comments come days after North Korea launched its second ballistic missile over Japanese airspace in a month. 

The international community has looked to increase pressure on Pyongyang after the nation conducted a nuclear test earlier this month. North Korea claimed it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb.

North Korea’s rapidly increasing nuclear aggression spurred international condemnation and fresh United Nations Security Council sanctions. Haley said “everybody” agrees the intense sanctions placed on North Korea are a big deal, despite President Trump questioning their impact earlier in the week.

“It’s just another very small step. Not a big deal,” he told reporters. “I don’t know if it has any impact, but certainly it was nice to get a 15-0 vote.”

Trump has repeatedly refused to rule out a military strike on North Korea’s nuclear facilities. 

The president said last August if the country continued to threaten the U.S. and its allies, the U.S. would respond with “fire and fury.”

“It was not an empty threat,” Haley said Sunday of the president’s comment.

Appearing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, reiterated that “all options are on the table” when it comes to addressing the North Korean threat.

— Mallory Shelbourne contributed.