Donald Trump warns of ‘calm before the storm’ as he poses for photo with US military chiefs

'You'll see what I mean' the US President ominously states

President Donald Trump told reporters during a photo opportunity with military leaders and their spouses before a dinner at the White House, that it was the “calm before the storm”.

Following a Thursday meeting with defence officials in the cabinet room, he asked journalists: “Do you know what this represents?” After being prompted to explain what the photo represented, he responded with:

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the calm before the storm.

"Could be the calm. The calm before the storm.”

Another reporter questioned the US president further, and asked him if his statement was in reference to Iran or Isis, to which he stated: “We’ve got the world’s greatest military people in this room. I will tell you that. And we’re going to have a great evening.”

Reporters tried one final time to get a definitive answer, and asked what the”storm” was.

“You’ll find out,” he said.

Mr Trump’s ominous comments come during a time of strained relations between the US and two countries: Iran and North Korea.

The US leader is set to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, believing that the agreement is not in the national interest, according to The Washington Post.

The move would not break the US’s agreement with Iran, but it would start a 60-day clock for a congressional review period in which legislators could choose to re-impose sanctions, putting a wrench in US-Iran relations.

In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Mr Trump criticised the deal for potentially providing “cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear programme”.

Tensions have also escalated between the US and North Korea. In a succession of tweets, Donald Trump referred to the country’s leader Kim Jong-un as “rocket man”: “Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years. Why would it work now? Clinton failed; Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail.

“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man."

During the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Donald Trump talked about North Korea and pushed military leaders to be faster with giving him “military options.”

According to Reuters, he said: “In North Korea, our goal is denuclearisation. We cannot allow this dictatorship to threaten our nation or our allies with unimaginable loss of life. We will do what we must do to prevent that from happening. And it will be done, if necessary, believe me.

“Moving forward, I also expect you to provide me with a broad range of military options, when needed, at a much faster pace. I know that government bureaucracy is slow, but I am depending on you to overcome the obstacles of bureaucracy.”