Trump: Tillerson ‘wasting his time’ trying to pursue negotiations with North Korea

President Trump signalled that he does not believe that attempts at direct communications with North Korea are worth the effort despite escalating tensions between Washington and Pyongyang.

A day after Secretary of State Rex Tillerson suggested that the United States maintains "lines of communications" with Kim Jong Un's regime, Trump wrote on Twitter that Tillerson is "wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man" - his nickname for Kim.

The president has taken an increasingly hard-line stance toward Pyongyang over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests, threatening in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly two weeks ago to "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary.

Tillerson, on a visit to Beijing, told reporters Saturday that the State Department is "probing" through direct channels with the North whether Kim would be open to talks and under what conditions.

UCJ, UNILORIN.