Contrary to Trump’s assertion, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan admitted on Wednesday that North Korea’s recent missile tests did, indeed, violate United Nations resolutions against such actions, according to CNN.
“Let me just be clear: these were short-range missiles. Those are a violation of the UNSCR,” Shanahan said of the early May North Korea short-range ballistic missile tests.
Trump had a different assessment, saying on Monday that, “My people think it could have been a violation. I view it differently.”
Whether or not is is a violation is easy to figure out. In 2006, the United Nations passed a resolution stating that North Korea could not “conduct any further nuclear test or launch of a ballistic missile,” according to CNN. The resolution also imposed sanctions against North Korea for such actions.
Military experts like Shanahan agree it was a short-range ballistic missile test, violating the resolution.
Shanahan’s background includes spending years working at Boeing, where he spent part of his time as vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems.
Trump’s background includes losing a billion dollars in a decade as an unsuccessful businessman, as well as starring in a Pizza Hut commercial and making a brief appearance in the 1992 comedy “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”
Unlike Shanahan, Trump was unperturbed by North Korea’s first missile tests since 2017, downplaying them as “some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me.”
Trump has a soft spot for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, telling a crowd in September that the two wrote each other beautiful letters and “fell in love.” Trump has held two high-profile meetings with Kim in an attempt to improve relations and work towards denuclearization of the North Korea, with little success.
The latest batch of missile tests did not sit well with Shanahan repeating the claim that they were a violation.
“A short-range missile, is that a violation? Yes,” Shanahan said. He added that his job is to enforce sanctions and “be ready in the situation that diplomacy fails.”
When it comes to trusting Kim or his own advisers, Trump seems to side with murderous dictators over Americans.
