Franks praises Trump’s strong talk on North Korea, compares him to Reagan
Nov 9, 2017, 9:52 AM | Updated: 10:20 am
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a speech at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2017. President Trump delivered a sharp warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday, telling him the weapons he's acquiring "are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger." (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, Pool)
(AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, Pool)
PHOENIX — U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) praised President Donald Trump’s strong tone on North Korea on Wednesday, comparing him to former President Ronald Reagan.
“There’s a Ronald Reagan on steroids back in the White House,” Franks told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Reality Check with Darin Damme.
During a speech on his Asian tour earlier this week, Trump warned North Korea: “Do not underestimate us. And do not try us.”
Franks said it was good to see Trump handling North Korea in such a manner, given what he saw as a lackluster approach from former President Barack Obama.
“It was always nothing,” Franks said. “He never really stood up to the bad guys and, oftentimes, he never even stood along the good guys, so I was encouraged.”
Franks said Trump’s stance seemed to echo the famed “peace through strength” foreign policy used by Reagan, but with a little more fire.
Trump said the U.S. will not allow its cities to be threatened with destruction, and said that, while America “does not seek conflict or confrontation,” it will not run from it, either.
“The regime has interpreted America’s past restraint as weakness. This would be a fatal miscalculation,” Trump said. “This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past.”
Franks also said he aligned with the president’s stance.
“I am the optimist that believes we can do it through peace,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
