<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;" align="center"> ;The tension between the U.S. and North Korea continues to escalate.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ever since North Korea deployed the recent nuclear missile test that has the potential to hit U.S. soil, President Donald Trump has been forced send a series of strong messages and to show force.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday, Trump alerted the world that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is more powerful than it has ever been. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before&#8230;.&rdquo; tweeted Trump. &ldquo;Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">These tweets came just a day after North Korea threatened to missile strike the U.S. territory of Guam.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;The North Korean army said in a statement that it is studying a plan to create an &#8220;enveloping fire&#8221; in areas around Guam with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles. The statement described Andersen Air Force Base on Guam as a &#8220;beachhead&#8221; for a potential U.S. invasion of North Korea it needed to neutralize,&rdquo; writes <em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Newsmax.</em> &ldquo;Trump spoke hours after reports indicated North Korea can now wed nuclear warheads with its missiles, including its longest-range missiles that may be able to hit the American mainland. The North has strived for decades to have the ability to strike the U.S. and its Asian allies, and the pace of its breakthroughs is having far-reaching consequences for stability in the Pacific and beyond.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;North Korea had best not make any more threats to the United States,&#8221; said Trump in response. &#8220;They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.&#8221;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some Democrats were quick to criticize Trump&rsquo;s recent harsh rhetoric about North Korea.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;We need to be firm and deliberate with North Korea, but reckless rhetoric is not a strategy to keep America safe,&rdquo; said Chuck Schumer, Senate Democratic leader.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But Rex Tillerson, secretary of state ;said Trump&rsquo;s recent statements are the president&rsquo;s way of speaking Kim Jong Un&rsquo;s language.  ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;I think what the president was doing was sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un would understand because he doesn&rsquo;t seem to understand diplomatic language,&#8221; said Tillerson on Tuesday while on his way to Guam. &#8220;I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime that the U.S. has an unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies and I think it was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part.&#8221; ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the weekend, the U.N. adopted new, tougher sanctions against North Korea in response to the country&rsquo;s recent nuclear weapons tests.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">North Korea responded angrily to these new sanctions and blames the U.S. for spearheading the U.N. to introduce them.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;We will make the U.S. pay by a thousandfold for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country,&rdquo; said North Korea&rsquo;s official news agency. ;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Wednesday, Jim Mattis, Secretary of Defense echoed Trump&rsquo;s statements about how powerful the U.S. military nuclear weapon program is.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;While our State Department is making every effort to resolve this global threat through diplomatic means, it must be noted that the combined allied militaries now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth,&rdquo; ;said Mattis. &ldquo;The DPRK regime&rsquo;s actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last week, Tillerson pointed out that North Korea is the nation making the threats, but the U.S. isn&rsquo;t afraid to respond accordingly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&ldquo;We do not seek regime change,&rdquo; said Tillerson. &ldquo;We are not your threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><strong>Author&rsquo;s note:</strong> The U.S. wants nothing to do with North Korea. But past presidents have let North Korea&rsquo;s nuclear weapon program get way out of hand. Trump is finally taking a strong stance and North Korea isn&rsquo;t used to this kind of leader. These threats may be empty ones, but it&rsquo;s in America&rsquo;s best interest to always be prepared to take action.</p>
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