Sen. Tom Cotton said the United States "should be taking more steps" to prepare for war with North Korea, the Arkansas Republican told the Washington Examiner one day before the president announced he would meet with Kim Jong Un.
Cotton made the comments in a podcast interview with the Examiner last week, before President Donald Trump's surprising announcement.
"We should be taking more steps than we are right now to be ready to fight a war, if that's what's necessary, with North Korea," Cotton told the Examiner then.
Cotton also released a statement regarding the president's intention to meet with Kim at some point.
"The patterns of U.S.-North Korea crises are well-worn and North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities are obvious. A summit could possibly break those patterns and lead to the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Cotton said in the statement.
"But we must remain deeply skeptical of North Korea's intentions and under no circumstances should the United States and our allies grant unilateral concessions," Cotton wrote.
That was consistent with Cotton's position before Trump's announcement, too.
"The last three administrations, at a minimum, have been Charlie Brown to North Korea's Lucy [with the football,] in that they've granted concessions for the mere act of sitting down to talk," Cotton told the Examiner.
"If Kim Jong Un or one of his senior envoys wants to sit down with the United States, we should listen to them. But if they demand any kind of suspension of sanctions or food aid or financial aid in advance, we obviously should not do that," Cotton said.
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