Footage emerges of Donald Trump calling for pre-emptive strike on North Korea 18 years ago

'If they think you're serious, they'll negotiate'

Footage has emerged of Donald Trump calling for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea 18 years ago.

The future US President said if negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons failed, "you better solve the problem now than solve it later."

The video was shared on social media after Mr Trump warned the reclusive state faced "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it continued to threaten the US.

In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press in 1999, Mr Trump said: "We have a country out there - North Korea. Which is sort of wacko, which is not a bunch of dummies, and they are going out and they are developing nuclear weapons.

“They're not doing it because they’re having fun doing it, they're doing it for a reason."

He added: “Wouldn’t it be good to sit down and really negotiate something, and ideally negotiate? Now if that negotiation doesn’t work, you better solve the problem now than solve it later."


 President Donald Trump made the pronouncement about North Korea at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club 
 (REUTERS)

Later in the interview, he clarified he did not want the US to use nuclear weapons, but instead wanted to strike the areas where North Korea was developing nuclear missiles.

"You want to do it in five years when they have warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington and every one of our [cities]? Is that when you want to do it?

"Or do you want to do something now? You'd better do it now.

"And if they think you're serious, they'll negotiate."