Should Trump 'take out' Kim Jong Un? Here's what one pastor with direct access to the president says

An influential evangelical pastor with direct access to President Donald Trump says that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un should be taken out.

Robert Jeffress, pastor at First Baptist Church of Dallas, suggested in a tweet that God has "given Trump authority" to end pre-empt North Korea.

"God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil," Jeffress tweeted Tuesday.

God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil. https://t.co/6E60XLNVQP

— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) August 8, 2017

The statement came on the same day that Trump warned North Korea if it continued to threaten the United States, there would be "fire and fury."

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Trump told reporters Tuesday at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, where he is spending a 17-day working vacation due to previously scheduled White House renovations.

President Trump vows America will respond to North Korean threats with "fire & fury" in a warning to the rogue nation pic.twitter.com/UaE2rPkZ6f

— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 9, 2017

Trump's remarks indicated a further ratcheting up of tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, which has made ominous strides toward developing an intercontinental nuclear missile capable of striking the U.S. mainland.

In light of Trump's comments, many pundits and politicians urged the president to engage North Korea diplomatically, rather than militarily.

But Jeffress was not one of those individuals urging Trump to maintain peace. In fact, in a statement Tuesday to the Christian Broadcast Network, Jeffress said that "God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un."

"When it comes to how we should deal with evil doers, the Bible, in the book of Romans, is very clear: God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary — including war — to stop evil. In the case of North Korea, God has given Trump authority to take out Kim Jong Un," Jeffress said.

The Texas pastor added that he's "heartened" to see that Trump will not tolerate North Korea's threats against the U.S., a policy that he said is "contrary to what we've seen with past administration who have taken, at best, a sheepish stance toward dictators and oppressors."

"When President Trump draws a red line, he will not erase it, move it, or back away from it. Thank God for a president who is serious about protecting our country," Jeffress told CBN.

(H/T: Right Scoop)