A WARNING – AT 11:51 P.M. ET:  North Korea, used to years of appeasement by the United States, does not act as if it's afraid of the Trump administration.  From Fox: 

North Korea is in the final stages of preparing for another nuclear test, which could come in the next few days, U.S. officials with knowledge of the most recent intelligence from the region told Fox News.

“The test could come as early as the end of the month,” said one official.

U.S. defense officials have seen evidence that North Korea has completed digging new tunnels around the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, but it still has to move more equipment into the area for a possible test, the official added. The Pentagon is keeping a close eye on these looming developments.

North Korea’s nuclear preparations prompted the U.S. military in recent days to move a surveillance aircraft used to test the air following nuclear explosions to the region. The Air Force WC-135 Constant Phoenix arrived in Japan and will be used to patrol the area off the Korean peninsula in the coming days, according to a separate official.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Beijing last weekend to press the case about what to do about North Korea’s erratic leader and his drive to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

North Korea first conducted a nuclear test in 2006. Last year, it carried out two additional tests.

Secretary Tillerson declared the Obama-era policy of “strategic patience” was over when dealing with North Korea and called the past 20 years of negotiating with the communist regime by past administrations a failure.

COMMENT:  North Korea is emerging as the first major foreign-policy crisis of the Trump administration.  The North Koreans are not changing any of their aggressive, threatening policies.

The possibility of pre-emptive military action here cannot be discounted, especially as North Korea is developing missiles that can strike the United States.

March 24, 2017