--- title: Steve Bannon: 'There's No Military Solution' to North Korea description: White House chief strategist Steve Bannon does not believe there is a military solution to North Korea in regards to its nuclear program canonical: https://time.com/4904066/steve-bannon-north-korea-military-solution/ author: Aric Jenkins article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-17T00:46:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:29:23.347Z article:section: Politics og:title: Steve Bannon: 'There's No Military Solution' to North Korea og:description: The White House chief strategist appeared to contradict President Trump's "fire and fury" comments og:url: https://time.com/4904066/steve-bannon-north-korea-military-solution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85877355c61d86bc/6988d768196cf46b41041345/gettyimages-635488650.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: 170727—Steve Bannon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Steve Bannon: 'There's No Military Solution' to North Korea twitter:description: The White House chief strategist appeared to contradict President Trump's "fire and fury" comments twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85877355c61d86bc/6988d768196cf46b41041345/gettyimages-635488650.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Steve Bannon: 'There's No Military Solution' to North Korea > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### 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. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=80c83800-adc7-455b-bf8e-38f6ab2f4f99&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Residents of Remote Guam Fear Attack After Threat From North Korea [Watch (HLS stream): Residents of Remote Guam Fear Attack After Threat From North Korea](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0qZYLE90.m3u8) (2:07)  _Published 2017-08-09. Residents of the tiny Pacific island of Guam say they're afraid of being caught in the middle of escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea after Pyongyang announced it was examining plans for attacking the island._ by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 17, 2017 12:46 AM UTC by [Aric Jenkins](https://time.com/author/aric-jenkins/) ## Aric Jenkins Aug 17, 2017 12:46 AM UTC White House chief strategist [Steve Bannon](http://time.com/4900993/steve-bannons-future-is-unclear/) does not believe there is a military solution to North Korea in regards to its [nuclear weapons program.](http://time.com/4900826/north-korea-wont-attack-guam/) Bannon on Tuesday called journalist Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of left-wing publication _The American Prospect_, [telling him](http://prospect.org/article/steve-bannon-unrepentant) to “forget” the possibility of warfare with North Korea during a wide-ranging interview. “There’s no military solution \[to North Korea’s nuclear threats\], forget it,” Bannon said. “Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.” Bannon’s comments appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s [comments last week](http://time.com/4896078/donald-trump-north-korea-trouble-warning/) in which he warned that North Korea would “be met with fire and the fury like the world has never seen” should it continue to threaten the United States. Bannon added that the U.S. is at “economic war with China,” though he would consider a deal with China to remove American troops from the Korean peninsula in exchange for China freezing North Korea’s nuclear program. But since Bannon feels such an agreement would be unlikely, he has been campaigning for the Trump administration to take a stricter stance on trade with China. “To me, the economic war with China is everything,” Bannon said. “And we have to be maniacally focused on that. If we continue to lose it, we’re five years away, I think, ten years at the most, of hitting an inflection point from which we’ll never be able to recover.” Bannon is reportedly in danger of being fired by Trump, with the a number of advisors urging the President to fire him, [according to the New York _Times_.](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/politics/steve-bannon-trump-white-house.html?smid=tw-share&%5Fr=0) But during a press conference Tuesday, Trump called Bannon a “good man” before once again [leaving the door open for speculation.](http://time.com/4902506/steve-bannon-trump-white-house/) “We’ll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,” the President said. ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] My reaction to North Korea is kind of worried, a little bit worried, because those people are, you know they're, they meant what they say And if they're going to do what they're going to do, they'll do it. And I hope that the United States is, will take some type of action to try to alleviate what it is that the, that guy's doing over there. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] The state, we wanna make very clear to the public that there has been no change Issued this threat left level to Guam. I'm working with Homeland Security, the Rear Admiral and the United States to ensure our safety. And I want to reassure the people of Guam, that currently there is no threat to our island or the Marianas. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury Like the world has never seen. [ FOREIGN ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] [ SOUND ] [ NOISE ] So are you scared? 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