It isn't North Korea that Guam should worry about, but President Donald Trump.
Trump is the unknown. His warning to deliver to North Korea "fire and fury like the world has never seen" is scary. We don't know what Trump will actually do.
The threat makes Trump look weak because he is unlikely to carry it out. North Korea knows this, hence its response to threaten Guam.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived at Guam shortly after to explain Trump's comment. He characterized it as Trump's way of "sending a strong message to North Korea in language Kim Jong Un would understand," reported the Washington Post.
Try as he might, Tillerson can't blunt Trump's words.
Trump is forcing Guam's leaders to respond. The island's non-voting representative in Congress, Madeleine Bordallo, urged Trump and other leaders "to de-escalate these tensions."
This tension is also with the people on Guam.
Trump's words -- "fire and fury" -- raises anxiety for everyone, but I believe it's more acute on Guam. There's no place to go.
The U.S. has to find non-military ways of dealing with North Korea. There's no choice in the matter. The alternative is too frightening. But is Trump capable of true leadership?
Trump seems to lack self-restraint. The fact that Tillerson stopped on Guam to dampen Trump's fire and fury comment tells you that Trump went too far. What we don't know is how far Trump is willing to go with North Korea.
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