U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly touted the halt of North Korean missile tests as one of his top foreign policy achievements, has played down the significance of leader Kim Jong Un's recent decision to test short-range missiles.
The North's second missile launch in five days on Thursday — part of what it said were military drills designed to bolster the nuclear-armed country's "various long-range strike means" — was widely seen as a move to heap more pressure on Trump amid stalled nuclear talks with the U.S.
"They're short-range and I don't consider that a breach of trust at all. And, you know, at some point I may. But at this point no," Trump said in an interview with the Politico website. "These were short-range missiles and very standard stuff. Very standard."