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 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| Just minutes into Sebastian Gorka’s appearance on Fox & Friends to discuss escalating nuclear tensions between Washington D.C. and Pyongyang, President Donald Trump issued his latest warning to North Korea via Twitter. 
 
 Following Trump’s comments warning North Korea against continuing their nuclear threats on Tuesday — and Pyongyang’s response — the U.S. president took to Twitter early Wednesday to boast about America’s powerful nuclear arsenal. 
 
 Asked about Trump’s warnings, Gorka said the president ” is saying don’t test America and don’t test Donald J. Trump.” 
 
 “We are not just a superpower,” Gorka continued. “We were a superpower. We are now a hyper-power. Nobody in the world, especially not North Korea, comes close to challenging our military capabilities.” 
 
 Gorka then reiterated the hardline on North Korea: “So the message is very clear, don’t test this White House, Pyongyang,” before claiming that the hermit kingdom is a “very insignificant threat in terms of scale.” 
 
 Despite escalating warnings coming from the White House, Gorka said the ball is in North Koreas court to “stand down the rhetoric.” 
 
 Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged calm on North Korea hours before the president’s tweets on Monday morning, saying “Americans should sleep well at night,” and that there is no imminent threat from Pyongyang. 
 
 Later in the interview, Gorka was asked about comments from Democratic lawmakers, as well as Republicans like Sen. John McCain, condemning Trump’s “reckless” and “bombastic comments” as unhelpful. 
 
 As Fox anchor Brian Kilmeade phrased it, “you’re shaking your head — what’s your reaction to American lawmakers turning against the president’s words?” 
 
 Gorka responded by invoking White House grievances about leaks, before claiming that both leaks and “these kinds of statements” sadden him. 
 
 The White House staffer then made the argument that Americans need to throw their support behind Trump in this time of crisis: 
 
 “These are the moments when we have to come together as a nation and support the executive,” he said. “Whether you voted for him or not, whether they’re a Democrat or whether they’re a Republican, these are trying times.” 
 
 “During the Cuban missile crisis we stood behind JFK,” Gorka said, before making an alarming claim about the current state of affairs: “This is analogous to the Cuban missile crisis.” 
 
 “We need to come together,” he continued, before arguing that Americans should put the country over their political party. 
 
 [image via screengrab] 
 
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 Follow Aidan McLaughlin (@aidnmclaughlin) on Twitter 
 
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 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more ||||| The Trump administration on Wednesday sought to keep pressure on North Korea to curb its nuclear ambitions, while also moving to lessen the alarm President Donald Trump sparked a day earlier when he threatened Pyongyang with attack. 
 
 North Korea on Thursday morning local time said “sound dialogue is not possible” with Mr. Trump and repeated the threat it made a day earlier to fire at the U.S.’s Pacific territory of Guam, saying it could surround Guam in “enveloping fire” by launching four intermediate-range Hwasong-12 missiles... ||||| Story highlights "The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mattis said 
 
 Mattis has consistently said that he prefers to resolve issues over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs through diplomacy 
 
 Washington (CNN) US Defense Secretary James Mattis issued a dramatic ultimatum to North Korea on Wednesday to "cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and destruction of its people" -- strong words that come just one day after President Donald Trump warned that the US could unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang. 
 
 "The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mattis said in a written statement, adding that the "regime's actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates." 
 
 Mattis has consistently said that he prefers to resolve issues over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs through diplomacy -- noting military action could yield catastrophic consequences. 
 
 On Wednesday, Mattis called on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to cooperate with the international community. 
 
 "Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified voice, and statements from governments the world over, who agree the DPRK poses a threat to global security and stability," he said. 
 
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– President Trump doesn't appear to be heeding calls to end his rhetoric in regard to North Korea. In a pair of tweets, he boasted about America's nuclear prowess. "My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal," he tweeted. "It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before." He then added, "Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!" Earlier, in response to North Korea's threat to strike Guam, Trump retweeted a Fox News story about US Air Force jets taking off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam for a training mission, with a caption noting pilots could be ready to "fight tonight," notes the Wall Street Journal. Related: Ad-lib? The New York Times reports that Trump's "fire and fury" line from Tuesday was improvised. The newspaper says the president did not run the language by advisers in advance, including chief of staff John Kelly. A piece of paper Trump had in front of him was reportedly a fact sheet on the opioid crisis. Politico reporter Josh Dawsey's sources tell him the words were not "carefully vetted," adding, "Don't read too much into it." Mattis weighs in: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson may have had a more calming tone on the subject Wednesday, but defense chief James Mattis followed up with some tough language. Among other things, he warned in an afternoon statement that North Korea should "cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and destruction of its people," per CNN. American nukes: Trump's tweets on the US arsenal were apparently in reference to a review of nuclear weapons that was ordered on Jan. 27 but isn't expected to be completed until year's end, reports the Washington Post. Such reviews are required by Congress about every eight years. After the last one in 2010, Barack Obama announced a $1 trillion plan to upgrade the nuclear arsenal over 30 years. Given all that, fact-checkers are pushing back on Trump's boast that he beefed up the arsenal, and that's putting it mildly. JFK comparison: “These are the moments when we have to come together as a nation and support the executive,” White House aide Sebastian Gorka said on Fox News, per Mediaite. “Whether you voted for him or not, whether they’re a Democrat or whether they’re a Republican, these are trying times. … During the Cuban missile crisis we stood behind JFK. This is analogous to the Cuban missile crisis.” Seeking ambassador: No ambassador to South Korea is in place yet under the new administration, and BuzzFeed reports that the absence of one is especially troubling now.