Pentagon 'worried Trump was going to declare war on North Korea'

The speculation comes when the president started tweeting about his plans for the US military

Officials at the Pentagon started speculating that President Donald Trump is set to declare war on North Korea when he started tweeting about his plans for the US military.

Trump, in his first tweet announced he had been consulting with his generals and then there was a nine minutes gap during which people were worried that the president had Pyongyang in his sights.

After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

“At the Pentagon, the first of the three tweets raised fears that the president was getting ready to announce strikes on North Korea or some other military action,” BuzzFeed reported.



“Many said they were left in suspense for nine minutes, the time between the first and second tweet. Only after the second tweet did military officials receive the news the president was announcing a personnel change on Twitter.”

The second tweet stated that transgender people weren’t permitted to enlist themselves in the Armed Forces of the United States of America.

....Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

....victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2017

According to the news site, Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis was on vacation this week and officials knew that President Trump was considering a policy change.

The Obama administration permitted transgender people enlisted to serve openly and was set to allow new transgender recruits to join but the plan was suspended in December.



The Pentagon directed all questions to the White House after Trump announced the news on Twitter.

At a press briefing, spokesperson Sara Huckabee Sanders was asked about the fate of transgender people already serving.

“That’s something that the Department of Defence and the White House will have to work together as implementation takes place and is done so lawfully,” she replied.