Mattis plays down Trump Tillerson split on North Korea
Rex Tillerson
ROUGH CUT ( NO REPORTER NARRATION ) U . S . Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday played down an apparent split between the U . S . president and his top diplomat over outreach to North Korea   saying America ' s focus was still on finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute with Pyongyang . President Donald Trump   who has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks   said on  Sunday Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  was " wasting  his  time " trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program .  Tillerson    during a trip to China on Saturday   said the United States had direct channels of communication with the North and was probing Pyongyang to see if it was interested in dialogue . He expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea   which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear - tipped missile capable of hitting the U . S . mainland . " I do not see the divergence as strongly as some ... have interpreted it  " Mattis said . " President Trump ' s guidance to both Secretary Tillerson and me has been very clearly that we would ... pursue the diplomatic effort to include with the various initiatives with China  " Mattis told a Senate hearing . " I believe that Secretary Tillerson is accurately stating that we are probing for opportunities to talk with the North . All we ' re doing is probing . We ' re not talking with them   consistent with the president ' s dismay about not talking with them before the time is right ."
ROUGH CUT ( NO REPORTER NARRATION ) U . S . Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Tuesday played down an apparent split between the U . S . president and his top diplomat over outreach to North Korea   saying America ' s focus was still on finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute with Pyongyang . President Donald Trump   who has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks   said on [TGT]was " wasting  [TGT]  time " trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program .  Tillerson    during a trip to China on Saturday   said the United States had direct channels of communication with the North and was probing Pyongyang to see if it was interested in dialogue . He expressed hope for reducing tensions with North Korea   which is fast advancing toward its goal of developing a nuclear - tipped missile capable of hitting the U . S . mainland . " I do not see the divergence as strongly as some ... have interpreted it  " Mattis said . " President Trump ' s guidance to both Secretary Tillerson and me has been very clearly that we would ... pursue the diplomatic effort to include with the various initiatives with China  " Mattis told a Senate hearing . " I believe that Secretary Tillerson is accurately stating that we are probing for opportunities to talk with the North . All we ' re doing is probing . We ' re not talking with them   consistent with the president ' s dismay about not talking with them before the time is right ."