'No dictator' should underestimate US: Donald Trump

President Donald Trump issued a stern warning that "no dictator" should underestimate the United States as he kicked off an Asian tour dominated by the North Korea nuclear crisis.

Speaking to cheering military personnel at Yokota Air Base yesterday west of Tokyo, Mr Trump donned a bomber jacket and said that no one, no dictator, no regime and no nation should underestimate the American resolve.

He said the United States would never falter in defence of its people, their freedom and the great American flag. Mr Trump visit comes with the North Korea crisis at fever pitch, as US bombers fly sorties over the Korean peninsula and fears mount of another Pyongyang missile



test.

North Korea itself welcomed Trump to the region with a rhetorical volley via the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, warning a "spiritually instable" President against making "reckless remarks".The president's first stops are Japan and South Korea --frontline US allies in the effort to force Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear programme, and the two countries with most to fear should a full-scale conflict break out.

Speaking to reporters on the plane, President Trump announced he would likely be meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin during the tour, as the international community scrambles for a solution to the North Korean crisis.