War with North Korea will be "inevitable" if it continues on its path of developing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can deliver a nuclear payload to the United States' mainland, even if that means the loss of thousands of lives overseas, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday.
"You're making the president pick between regional stability and homeland stability," the senator, a South Carolina Republican, told NBC's "Today" show.
"They've kicked the can down the road for 20 years. There will be a war with North Korea over the missile program if they continue to try to hit America with an ICBM."
Graham said President Donald Trump has "told me that, and I believe him."
"If I were China, I would believe him too, and do something about it," said Graham. "You can stop North Korea, militarily or diplomatically. I prefer the diplomatic approach."
However, North Korea "will not be allowed to have a missile to hit America with a nuclear weapon on top," the senator said. "To allow them to do that is abandoning homeland security."
The only way North Korea will change the path it's on is if there is a "credible threat of military force," and that could mean China would be "in the crosshairs of a war if we start one with North Korea, if they get a missile that can hit California and other parts of North America."
Trump, he continued, will not allow North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, "this mad man," to have a missile that can hit the United States.
"If there's going to be war to stop them, it will be over there," said Graham. "If thousands die, they will die over there. That may be provocative, but not really. When you're president of the United States, where does your allegiance lie? To the people of the United States."