Bolton: Trump Only Bluffing on Stopping North Korea

President Donald Trump does not really mean it when he vows to stop North Korea from having deliverable nuclear weapons, former national security adviser John Bolton told Axios in an interview published on Sunday.

"We're now nearly three years into the administration with no visible progress toward getting North Korea to make the strategic decision to stop pursuing deliverable nuclear weapons," said Bolton, who left the Trump administration in September.

He added that "Time is on the side of the proliferator. The more time there is, the more time there is to develop, test and refine both the nuclear component and the ballistic missile component of the program."

Bolton said that "The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true, insisting that the administration’s stance that it is unacceptable for Pyongyang to possess nuclear weapons that could strike the United States or its allies is now more of a "rhetorical policy."