--- title: North Korea: John McCain Slams Donald Trump's Threats description: John McCain took aim at President Trump's recent fiery rhetoric on North Korea, claiming he is only ratcheting up a possible confrontation canonical: https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-08T22:29:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:54:44.028Z article:section: Politics og:title: McCain on Trump's North Korea Threat: 'I Don't Know What He's Saying' og:description: "I've long ago given up trying to interpret what he says" og:url: https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbdad8fa425fa466/6988d7878fd2eea8653582fe/john-mccain-health-bill-celebrity-reactions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2946 og:image:height: 1657 og:image:alt: Senate GOP Health Care Bill Fails To Pass og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McCain on Trump's North Korea Threat: 'I Don't Know What He's Saying' twitter:description: "I've long ago given up trying to interpret what he says" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbdad8fa425fa466/6988d7878fd2eea8653582fe/john-mccain-health-bill-celebrity-reactions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John McCain on President Trump's North Korea Threat: 'I Don't Know What He's Saying' > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 8, 2017 10:29 PM UTC  Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) arrives for work on Capitol Hill hours after voting NO on the GOP 'Skinny Repeal' health care bill, on July 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) arrives for work on Capitol Hill hours after voting NO on the GOP 'Skinny Repeal' health care bill, on July 28, 2017 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 8, 2017 10:29 PM UTC [John McCain](http://time.com/4883891/al-franken-john-mccain-health-care-vote/) took aim at President Trump’s recent fiery rhetoric on North Korea, claiming his words will only ratchet up the heat for a possible confrontation. Following a [Washington _Post_ report](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/north-korea-now-making-missile-ready-nuclear-weapons-us-analysts-say/2017/08/08/e14b882a-7b6b-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.38e08de5170b) that North Korea now has a warhead that can fit inside its missiles, the President [issued a stark warning,](http://time.com/4892102/donald-trump-north-korea-news/) stating while on vacation at his [golf course in New Jersey](http://time.com/money/4886714/bedminster-donald-trump-vacation-golf-club/) that if the country makes any more threats to the United States, “they will be met with the fire and the fury like the world has never seen.” “I take exception to the President’s comments because you gotta be able to do what you say you’re gonna do,” the Arizona Senator [told KTAR radio](http://ktar.com/story/1687334/mccain-warns-trump-not-threaten-north-korea-until-ready-act/) Tuesday, in an appearance with his daughter Meghan. “I don’t think that’s a way you attack an issue and a challenge like this.” McCain said he was unsure if that rhetoric constituted a threat of military action, but said that most previous presidents wouldn’t make a threat unless they were ready to act. “I don’t know what he’s saying and I’ve long ago given up trying to interpret what he says,” the Senator told KTAR. “It’s not terrible but it’s kind of the classic Trump in that he overstates things.” He noted, however, that Trump’s remarks could be pivotal in escalating a confrontation with North Korea, which could ultimately endanger South Korea in what he said could be a catastrophic scenario. “They have 1,000 rockets aimed at Seoul that could set that city on fire,” he said. Were he advising the President on this issue, McCain said, he would tell Trump to speak with the Chinese and accelerate the United States’ anti missile defense capabilities. “The key to this is China,” McCain said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/"},"headline":"John McCain on President Trump's North Korea Threat: 'I Don't Know What He's Saying'","datePublished":"2017-08-08T22:29:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:54:44.028Z","description":"\"I've long ago given p trying to interpret what he says\"","url":"https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/","keywords":["North Korea","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbdad8fa425fa466/6988d7878fd2eea8653582fe/john-mccain-health-bill-celebrity-reactions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdbdad8fa425fa466/6988d7878fd2eea8653582fe/john-mccain-health-bill-celebrity-reactions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Senate GOP Health Care Bill Fails To Pass","caption":"Senate GOP Health Care Bill Fails To Pass","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/north-korea/","name":"North Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4892492/donald-trump-john-mccain-north-korea-nuclear-threat/","name":"John McCain on President Trump's North Korea Threat: 'I Don't Know What He's Saying'"}}]}] ```