More than 60 members of Congress have condemned Trump's threats to North Korea
The legislators say Mr Trump's comments 'dramatically increased tensions with North Korea and raised the spectre of nuclear war'
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Your support makes all the difference.More than 60 members of Congress have signed on to a letter condemning President Donald Trump’s latest comments on North Korea.
The letter – addressed to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and written during the Congressional recess – expressed the legislators’ “profound concern over the statements made by President Trump that dramatically increased tensions with North Korea and raised the specter of nuclear war”.
Mr Trump had recently declared that he would send “fire and fury” to North Korea if they did not cease their threats to the United States. At a press conference on Thursday, he mused that the warning “may not be tough enough”.
The North Korean government responded by threatening to attack the US territory of Guam.
Mr Trump’s statements, the Congress members wrote, “are irresponsible and dangerous, and also senselessly provide a boon to domestic North Korean propaganda which has long sought to portray the United States as a threat to their people".
The group called upon the Trump administration to support the constitutional amendment requiring a preemptive nuclear strike to be authorised by Congress – an idea supported by several Republican Congress members, too.
The Congress members also supported Mr Tillerson’s calls for direct talks with North Korea, and asked for information on the steps being taken to advance such a dialogue.
Mr Tillerson has been a moderating voice in the conflict of late, telling Pyongyang in a statement that the US is ”not your enemy, we are not your threat”.
“We would like to sit and have a dialogue about the future,” Mr Tillerson said.
That rhetoric has been largely overshadowed by Mr Trump’s comments, and by those of advisers such as Defence Secretary James Mattis.
Mr Mattis warned on Wednesday that North Korea’s actions "will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours," and that Pyongyang should “cease consideration of actions that will lead to the end of the regime and destruction of its people".
National security adviser HR McMaster has also warned that a preventative strike remains a possibility.
Madeleine Bordallo, a Representative from Guam, said such statements are "unhelpful anf dangerous," and have directly threatened the safety of her constituents.
"It is imperative that President Trump and his Administration work towards a peaceful solution to this situation and refrain from any action that could lead toward a military conflict," she said.
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