The battle of words between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is similar to the run-up to World War I, according to James Clapper, former director of National Intelligence.
"It's somewhat reminiscent to me of the history of World War I and how the world kind of blundered into that," Clapper said Thursday on "CNN Tonight."
"I hope people learn from history and don't repeat that. I don't think we are there yet. I think there is still time for other measures, sanctions, diplomacy and all those kind of things," Clapper said in the interview.
Clapper said that he worried about Trump's "bellicose and threatening rhetoric." He said he wished the president would allow the secretary of state and secretary of defense to handle the situation instead.
"I do worry that this game of rhetoric chicken is going to become self-fulfilling. Implicitly, the president is kind of drawing a red line here… which to me, is not very responsible," Clapper said.
The former intelligence director said he was concerned about the U.S. beginning an unnecessary war with North Korea. "We don't have that much insight, really, into the internal mechanisms of how the North Koreans make decisions," Clapper said in the interview.
"I suspect it's basically one guy," Clapper said, apparently suggesting Kim is the primary decision maker.
At another point in the interview, Clapper commented on a Trump press conference statement about his approval of the intelligence community. "I think he likes intelligence on a selective basis. He seems to accept the intelligence on Korea, or on Syria, on China, on other areas, on terrorism, but when it comes to Russia, no, not so much."
Later on in that program, Jim Sciutto, CNN's national security correspondent, praised Clapper's statements. "He's not someone who tends towards bombastic comments. He has genuine concern about the direction of events in North Korea," Sciutto said.
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