Trump Adviser Steve Bannon Assails Rivals in American Prospect Interview

As reported by Democracy Now!'s morning headline news:

The letter came as Steve Bannon, President Trump’s chief strategist, granted an extraordinary interview with Robert Kuttner of the liberal magazine The American Prospect. In an article titled "Steve Bannon, Unrepentant," the former Breitbart News editor declared there is "no military solution" to the North Korean nuclear crisis, and said the U.S. should engage in an "economic war" with China. Bannon said he was looking to neutralize rivals in the Departments of Defense, State and Treasury, and criticized the white supremacists behind last weekend’s violence in Charlottesville, calling them "ethnonationalists" and "a collection of clowns." Bannon is the former head of Breitbart News, a site that’s been described as an online haven for white nationalists. It’s not clear whether Bannon knew his comments were on the record. The news site Axios reported one unnamed White House staffer said Bannon’s comments left him infuriated, saying, "I’ll put this in terms he’ll understand: This is DEFCON 1-level bad." (emphasis added)

See DN!'s comprehensive N. Korea-U.S. conflict news coverage, here.

South Korea: Thousands Rally Against Trump's Nuclear War Threats

As reported on Democracy Now!'s morning headline news:

In South Korea, at least 10,000 protesters rallied in the capital Seoul Tuesday, calling on the Trump administration to end its threats of nuclear war against North Korea and calling on the U.S. to cancel the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system. This is Han Chung-mok of the group Act for Peace.

Han Chung-mok: "August 15 is a day when we were freed from Japanese colonial rule. After the liberation, we are supposed to maintain peace as a freed country. But since President Trump took over, he has declared that he was willing to risk a war. Therefore, people of our nation gather here today to call for peace on the Korean Peninsula."

[And see all of DN!'s comprehensive N. Korea-U.S. conflict coverage, here.]

North Korea Holding Off on Guam Strike, Waiting to See What "Foolish Yankees" Will Do

As reported on Democracy Now!'s morning headline news:

North Korea says it will hold off on attacking the U.S. territory of Guam, saying they will wait to see what the "foolish Yankees" will do before making any decisions. Tensions have been escalating between the U.S. and North Korea. President Trump startled the world last week by threatening to attack North Korea with "fire and fury"—sparking concerns about the possibility of a nuclear war. In response, North Korea threatened to hit the waters off the U.S. territory of Guam, home to two major sprawling U.S. military bases. Residents have spent decades opposing the militarization of their island. Click here to see our full interview about resistance to U.S. militarization of Guam.

And see DN!'s complete N. Korea-U.S. conflict coverage, here.

President Trump Ramps Up North Korea "Fire and Fury" Threats

Democracy Now! news headline:

Returning to our top story, President Trump on Thursday ramped up his threats of hitting North Korea with "fire and fury," saying if the North were to carry out an attack on Guam, the U.S. would retaliate with military action, "the likes of which nobody has seen before." This is President Trump speaking to reporters from inside his private golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey.

President Donald Trump: "And I think they—it’s the first time they’ve heard it like they heard it. And frankly, the people that were questioning that statement—was it too tough? Maybe it wasn’t tough enough. They’ve been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years, and it’s about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries."

North Korea responded in a statement calling Trump a "senile man who can’t think rationally." The North also detailed its threat to strike Guam, saying it would launch four intermediate-range missiles into the waters off the U.S. territory. After headlines, we’ll go to Guam to speak with a peace activist.

And see DN!'s complete N. Korea-U.S. conflict coverage, here.

On Guam, Resistance Grows to US Military Presence as N. Korea Threatens Missiles Off Island's Coast

As reported by Democracy Now!:

The front page of Guam’s Pacific Daily News reads "14 Minutes!" That’s how long it would take missiles fired from North Korea to reach the U.S. territory in the western Pacific if there is an escalation of the threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. On Thursday, Trump again threatened North Korea, saying if it were to carry out an attack on Guam, the U.S. would retaliate with military action. The Pentagon controls about a third of all the land on Guam, which is home to 163,000 people and a sprawling complex of U.S. military bases, including the Air Force base where many of the United States’ B-2 bombers take off from before flying over the Korean Peninsula. For decades, residents of Guam have resisted the militarization and colonization of their homeland by the United States, which has now put them in the crosshairs of a possible nuclear war between the U.S. and North Korea. We go to Guam to speak with LisaLinda Natividad, president of the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice and a member of the Guam Commission on Decolonization, and with David Vine, author of "Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World."

See the full segment, here.

And see DN!'s complete N. Korea-U.S. conflict coverage, here.