--- title: Donald Trump Could Lead US to World War III, Bob Corker Says description: Bob Corker escalated his war of words with Donald Trump, expressing concern that Trump's temperament could lead the U.S. into an actual war canonical: https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-09T11:44:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:04.500Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Top Republican Says Trump Could Lead the U.S. Into World War III og:description: "He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation" og:url: https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb46033dfe61304bc/6988e10f22fb85ed16e232f9/bob-corker-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: Bob-Corker-trump og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Top Republican Says Trump Could Lead the U.S. Into World War III twitter:description: "He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb46033dfe61304bc/6988e10f22fb85ed16e232f9/bob-corker-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Top Republican Says President Trump Could Lead the U.S. Into World War III > 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. ## Video: President Trump Threatens to 'Totally Destroy' North Korea in U.N. Speech [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Threatens to 'Totally Destroy' North Korea in U.N. Speech](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I4DNTm1m.m3u8) (0:36)  _Published 2017-09-19. President Trump threatened North Korea with total destruction in his first speech to the United Nations, but said that the international body could still prevent war_  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 9, 2017 11:44 AM UTC  President Donald Trump leaves after a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House October 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. ; Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, speaks to the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 in New York City. President Donald Trump leaves after a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House October 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. ; Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, speaks to the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 in New York City. John Angelillo—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Oct 9, 2017 11:44 AM UTC Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker escalated [his war of words with President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4973803/donald-trump-bob-corker-twitter-iran-deal/) late Sunday, expressing concern that Trump’s temperament could lead the United States into an actual war — perhaps even World War III. “I know for a fact that every single day at the White House, it”s a situation of trying to contain him,” [Corker told the New York](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/us/politics/trump-corker.html?%5Fr=0)[ _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/us/politics/trump-corker.html?%5Fr=0)_._ “I don’t think he appreciates that when the President of the United States speaks and says the things that he does, the impact that it has around the world, especially in the region that he’s addressing. And so, yeah, it’s concerning to me.” Corker, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who recently announced he would not seek reelection next year, also told the _Times_ that Trump has adversely impacted international diplomacy with [his Twitter feed](http://time.com/4724135/donald-trump-tweets-retweets-didnt-age-well/), and that every Republican Senator shares his concerns. Trump used his Twitter feed Sunday to take aim at Corker, saying that [Corker decided not to seek reelection](http://time.com/4958159/bob-corker-reelection-2018/) because Trump would not provide his endorsement. A person familiar with the situation immediately disputed Trump’s account to TIME, saying the President had called Corker and asked him to reconsider his decision — and offered his endorsement. Corker later said as much to the _Times._ > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917026789188399105) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/917029060471152640) Corker responded to Trump’s Twitter attack by calling the White House an “adult day care center” has further intensified his rhetoric against Trump, expressing concern that his policies could result in a third World War. > [](https://twitter.com/SenBobCorker/status/917045348820049920) Corker and Trump haven’t always been at odds. Corker praised Trump after he gave a foreign policy speech when he was still a presidential candidate, and he began receiving calls from Trump with foreign policy questions. Corker was also said to be a candidate for Vice President, and later Secretary of State. In February, he expressed optimism that the Senate could still work with Trump. “It’s taking nuggets, massaging them, evolving them to a little bit different place,” [Corker told _Politico_](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/02/sen-bob-corker-the-full-transcript-214767). “I see that as a challenging, but a very positive role for us to play.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/"},"headline":"A Top Republican Says President Trump Could Lead the U.S. Into World War III","datePublished":"2017-10-09T11:44:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:04.500Z","description":"Bob Corker says Trump could be leading America down a deadly path","url":"https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/","keywords":["Congress","Donald Trump","Bob Corker","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb46033dfe61304bc/6988e10f22fb85ed16e232f9/bob-corker-trump.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/bltb46033dfe61304bc/6988e10f22fb85ed16e232f9/bob-corker-trump.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bob-Corker-trump","caption":"President Donald Trump leaves after a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House October 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. ; Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, speaks to the media in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016 in New York City.","creditText":"John Angelillo—Bloomberg/Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski—AFP/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/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4974241/donald-trump-bob-corker-republican-party/","name":"A Top Republican Says President Trump Could Lead the U.S. Into World War III"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Threatens to 'Totally Destroy' North Korea in U.N. 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