There is something that bothers me when I see articles that appear to suggest Trump is somehow weak or lacking a coherent policy when it comes to how he is dealing with the North Korea issue. It's a Chinese warning to North Korea about a month ago that got some media attention, but in my opinion, not nearly the attention it deserved. China basically said that if North Korea launched an unprovoked attack on the US, or on an ally of the US, then China would not defend the North Koreans against US retaliation.  But reading between the lines, couldn't that also be seen as China warning the US that they will defend North Korea against a preemptive attack by the US ?  A potential military clash between China and the US would have the potential to be far more destructive than a North Korea/US war .  Even this week China said they would not tolerate a war on their border.  Could it be that the US are weighing up China's potential reaction to any US military action before going any further ?