KAWAGOE: U.S.President DonaldTrump ramped up his tough rhetoric against North Korea when hearrived in Japan on Sunday, saying that the United States andits allies are prepared to defend freedom and that "no dictator"should underestimate U.S.
resolve.
Trump kicked off a 12-day Asian trip and is looking topresent a united front with Japan against North Korea throughmeetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe amid heightened tensionsover Pyongyang´s nuclear and missile tests.
He told reporters on Air Force One en route to Asia thatNorth Korea would figure prominently in discussions during the
trip.
He also singled out trade, which he said had been "badlyhandled" in the region for years.
Trump has rattled some allies with his vow to "totallydestroy" North Korea if it threatens the United States and hisdismissal of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a "rocket man"on a suicide mission.
A top aide said last week Trump intends to tell Asianleaders the world is "running out of time" in dealing with thenuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula.
"No dictator, no regime, no nation should ever underestimateAmerican resolve," Trump told hundreds of cheering U.S.and
Japanese troops in camouflage uniforms gathered at Yokota AirBase, just west of Tokyo, soon after he arrived.
"Every once in a while, in the past, they underestimated us.It was not pleasant for them, was it?" said Trump, who wore abomber jacket as he addressed the troops.
North Korea´s recent actions, including several missilesthat flew over Japan and Pyongyang´s sixth and largest nucleartest, have raised the stakes in the most critical internationalchallenge of Trump´s presidency.