Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, rebuked President Trump for his public comments about North Korea’s missile tests. “I think when you’re in a situation that is as real as this one is and as sensitive as this one is, the lesser public comments you can make, the better,” Corker said Tuesday at the Capitol. On Sunday, Trump wrote on Twitter that Tillerson was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Tillerson was in Beijing over the weekend, where he confirmed that the U.S. was engaged in direct talks with the rogue regime. On Monday, Corker told The Daily Beast that it was “hard for me to tell whether this is purposeful,” suggesting at one point that Trump and Tillerson were engaged in a “good cop, bad cop” scenario. Corker, who advised the Trump transition team but has been critical of the administration on foreign policy issues, had breakfast with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday morning, and said the meeting gave him more clarity on the administration’s policy regarding North Korea.
—Andrew Desiderio
