"I am not like President [Barack] Obama, where you draw a red line on the sand, and then lots of bad things happen," Trump stated in the interview to Fox News on Monday. "You see what's going on, it is very, very bad, it is very threatening…. I don't like drawing red lines. But I act, if I have to act."
Trump reiterated his earlier statements that US defense officials would not announce any military operations that may take place in response to Pyongyang's nuclear tests.
The president noted that neither US troops nor South Korean military can feel absolutely safe at this point, because of the continuing nuclear threat posed by North Korea.
Earlier in the day, Trump told Bloomberg News that he would meet with Kim Jong-un under the right circumstances. The White House later clarified that the conditions for this possible face-to-face discussion between the two leaders are not present so far and, therefore, the meeting would not happen anytime soon.