Democratic Sen. Chris Coons slammed President Donald Trump’s tweet Saturday about North Korea’s latest missile test, saying Twitter is no place to conduct diplomacy.
Trump took to Twitter shortly after the ballistic missile blew up over land in North Korean territory. He decried the test, which the US military called a failure, while giving a nod to China, one of North Korea’s only allies and a nation seen by the Trump administration as a potential US ally in efforts to quash Pyongyang’s nuclear program.
“North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!” Trump tweeted.
Coons, speaking with CNN’s Michael Smerconish, commended the President’s perspective on China’s role in the region.
“What President Trump is doing here is recognizing that his only constructive path forward on North Korea is to engage China, to make sure that China sees this as being as much their problem as our problem,” Coons said.
But, the Delaware senator emphasized, “complimenting” China on Twitter doesn’t count as presidential diplomacy and isn’t effective.
“This is no longer reality TV,” he said. “This is reality. And dangerous reality.”
“The way to conduct diplomacy is not through Twitter but by leadership by the National Security team at the Trump administration,” Coons added.