Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan on Wednesday publicly broke with President Donald Trump on North Korea's recent missile tests, saying he views them as a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
In an exchange with reporters traveling with him in Asia, Shanahan diverged from Trump's insistence he was not concerned about the recent short range missile tests.
"Let me just be clear . . . these were short range missiles and those are a violation of the UNSCR," he said, referring to the acronym for the U.N. resolution, according to a transcript.
The resolution bars North Korea from testing any ballistic missiles, regardless of range, National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters in Japan on Saturday, Politico reported.
"In terms of violating U.N. Security Council resolutions, there is no doubt about that," he added, The Hill reported.
Trump took the opposite tack during the Japan visit, tweeting Saturday:
"North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me."
"All I know is that there have been no nuclear tests. There have been no ballistic missiles going out. There have been no long-range missiles going out. And I think that someday we'll have a deal," Trump added Monday, The Hill has reported, citing a White House transcript.