On Tuesday, North Korea fired a nuclear missile into the ocean off their coastline as a test. The U.S. confirmed that this test occurred shortly after, and the State Department went about releasing an official comment. Which is all completely normal. Less normal? The contents of the statement itself, which isn’t exactly in line with the norm of a presidential administration’s reactions to a nuclear test.
👀 This is Rex Tillerson's statement on North Korea's missile launch pic.twitter.com/S2xAgZAGlX
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 4, 2017
That’s it. That’s the entire statement. The U.S. State Department is content to release a few short sentences about a rogue nation firing a ballistic missile into their oceans with just:
“North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”
This statement comes at the same time Trump and his administration prepare to host President Xi of China, a country that could be an integral piece in the diplomatic dance with North Korea over the coming months and years. Combined with the White House’s statement about a chemical attack in Syria which blamed Obama for the incident — while barely commenting on the event aside from those shots at the former President — and the Trump administration is really on a role. It’s not even halfway through the week yet! There have not yet been any followups from the State Department to offer up any further information regarding North Korea’s launch or their planned diplomatic reaction to it.