--- title: Trump: Rex Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ With North Korea description: President Donald Trump said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” pursuing negotiations with North Korea canonical: https://time.com/4964400/trump-twitter-rex-tillerson-north-korea/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-01T15:23:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T11:17:15.048Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump: Rex Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ With North Korea Negotiations og:description: “Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!” og:url: https://time.com/4964400/trump-twitter-rex-tillerson-north-korea/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82b923515006f092/6988dfcb97cdff9e0f6b29fe/deepak-chopra-coworkers-politics-work.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4270 og:image:height: 2402 og:image:alt: Trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump: Rex Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ With North Korea Negotiations twitter:description: “Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!” twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82b923515006f092/6988dfcb97cdff9e0f6b29fe/deepak-chopra-coworkers-politics-work.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump: Rex Tillerson Is ‘Wasting His Time’ With North Korea Negotiations > 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=b06b39e7-7f04-4270-849c-207284c1f06a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 1, 2017 3:23 PM UTC  President Donald Trump walks to speak to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Washington. President Donald Trump walks to speak to reporters as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2017, in Washington. Evan Vucci—AP  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Oct 1, 2017 3:23 PM UTC President Donald Trump on Sunday said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” pursuing negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In two tweets, Trump implied the U.S. should stop trying to talk to North Korea and instead look into other ways in dealing with the reclusive nation’s escalating nuclear threats. “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914497947517227008). “Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/914497947517227008) Trump’s remarks come after Tillerson told reporters the U.S. is attempting to “calm things down” with North Korea following multiple [heated exchanges](http://time.com/4955880/donald-trump-north-korea-tweet-war/) between Trump and Un that involved name-calling and threats. Tillerson on Saturday said the U.S. has [open lines of communication](http://time.com/4964136/rex-tillerson-communication-north-korea/?xid=homepage) to Un’s regime. “We have lines of communication to Pyongyang. We’re not in a dark situation, a blackout,” Tillerson said, according to the Associated Press. “We have a couple … three channels open to Pyongyang. 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