"You guys know what this represents?" he asked journalists as he smiled for the photo. "Maybe it's the calm before the storm."
After much speculation, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who currently serves as White House press secretary, weighed in on Trump's comment.
When asked by a reporter how seriously Americans should take the comment, Sanders responded, "I think you can take the president protecting the American people always extremely serious."
"He's been very clear that that's his number one priority, and if he feels that action is necessary, he'll take it."
When probed about North Korea, Sanders claimed that the president will "keep all options on the table" and that the White House will "continue to put maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on countries like North Korea."
This triggered another pressing question by a reporter: "North Korea? That's the storm?"
"I'm just using that as an example. I think we've got a lot of bad actors in the world. North Korea, Iran. There's several examples there," she quickly responded.
Another reporter asked the question most have been thinking: Is the president "just being mischievous, that he was messing with the press a little bit, when he made that comment?"
Sanders responded: "I wouldn't say that he's messing with the press."
"I think we have some serious world issues here. I think that North Korea, Iran both continue to be bad actors, and the president is somebody who's going to always look for ways to protect Americans, and he's not going to dictate what those actions may look like."
"I don't think there's anything beyond that, that I can add on that front," she added.
