Story highlights
Sanders said China is "the key" to moderating North Korea
"North Korea is a real danger to this world," he said
Sen. Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump don’t agree on much, but the Vermont independent says that if the President is genuinely coaxing China to help moderate North Korea, he is “doing the right thing.”
“North Korea is a real danger to this world, and we have got to do everything we can to … prevent a nuclear war and to get them to stop their nuclear program,” said Sanders, speaking with CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day.”
“China has got to apply the screws and tell North Korea that if their economy is going to survive, they cannot continue expanding their nuclear arms program and their missile program,” he added.
“China is, in fact, the key,” Sanders continued. “People have been working on China for years. If Trump is doing that, he’s doing the right thing.”
The Trump administration’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, told National Public Radio on Thursday that the US would be willing to negotiate with Pyongyang, a statement at odds with recent comments to CNN by Vice President Mike Pence, who ruled out such a possibility in the near future.
It’s a step other administrations have been reluctant to take, seeing it as an unwarranted reward for the regime’s aggressive and belligerent behavior.
CNN’s Elise Labott, Nicole Gaouette and Laura Koran contributed to this report.