Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) is calling for President Trump to preemptively strike North Korea.
Hunter on Thursday warned that North Korea could have a nuclear missile aimed at naval bases in the U.S., including San Diego.
“Why would they not aim here, at Hawaii, Guam, our major naval bases?” Hunter said, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. “The question is, do you wait for one of those? Or two? Do you preemptively strike them? And that’s what the president has to wrestle with. I would preemptively strike them. You could call it declaring war, call it whatever you want.”
Hunter is a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
{mosads}Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have seen an escalation of tensions in the wake of a series of missile and nuclear tests by the North since Trump took office this year.
In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Trump said that if the U.S. is forced to defend itself or its allies against North Korean nuclear action, he will “totally destroy” North Korea.
Kim responded to these threats by calling Trump “mentally deranged.” Trump retorted on Twitter on Friday morning, calling Kim a “madman.”
Trump on Thursday signed an executive order to introduce a new set of travel and economic sanctions on North Korea.
North Korea has been touting its nuclear capabilities in recent weeks and claims to have successfully tested several missiles that can reach the continental U.S.