President Donald Trump is willing to begin a preemptive attack on North Korea if talks do not pan out, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
"If negotiations fail, he is willing to abandon strategic patience and use preemption. I think he's there mentally. He has told me this," Graham said in a Thursday interview with Hugh Hewitt.
"We cannot allow the capability to mature in North Korea that could put every American sitting in the crosshairs of a nuclear attack by a very unstable, provocative leader of North Korea," Graham said.
The U.S. has changed its stance on North Korea away from "strategic patience," which is a code word for weakness, Graham said.
While Graham has been critical of the president, he told Hewitt they agree on North Korea policy.
Trump's outlook on the situation is "deadly serious, very curious," Graham told Hewitt. "Now the question for him is what are the options available to him under the preemption scenario."
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un does not behave rationally, Graham said. "The last person I want to have the capability to strike the American homeland is the leader of North Korea, because he is crazy."
The senator, during a CBS News interview Wednesday, called on China to take action against North Korea.
"You're going to have a war in your backyard," if they do not deal with Kim Jong Un, Graham said.