Trump's meetings with China's Xi Jinping underscore risks of U.S. attack on North Korea

President Donald Trump is currently hosting Chinese President Xi Jinping for a series of diplomatic meetings at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. A key topic of conversation has been the expanding nuclear capabilities of North Korea. Earlier this week, Trump publicly called for China to exert stronger pressure on North Korea to shut down its nuclear program and implied that even if China is unwilling to assist in the effort, he would consider acting unilaterally against North Korea if necessary.

This is a sharp departure from previous administrations, who have not only practiced a policy of "strategic patience" but relied heavily on China — long thought to have the greatest sway over North Korea — to try to coax North Korea's leaders into complying with American demands.

Friday on "The Glenn Beck Radio Program," Glenn predicted the dire consequences of a military strike against North Korea and emphasized the importance of China's involvement in their nuclear disarmament:

"Donald Trump has said, 'I'm going to unilaterally strike North Korea. That's crazy talk, because North Korea will attack. They have eight nukes. They could launch a nuke. But even if they don't, they will attack South Korea, and they can level Seoul within two and a half hours. Millions will die. The last thing we want is a unilateral attack and lobbing some missiles from a ship off the coast into North Korea, especially without the support of China. Remember it was China that was really the force with the Communists in the 1950s. That's why we have North and South Korea. China will block us. We have to have China on board."

The proceedings were further complicated by Trump's decision to launch missile strikes against government-held airfields in Syria in retaliation for a nerve gas attack apparently carried out by government forces against it rebelling citizens. Glenn concluded that Trump's swift, aggressive response against Syria, as well as Trump's highly critical comments about China over the past several months have likely convinced China's leadership that a sea-change has taken place in the American government.

"Now the president of China realizes, 'Crap, we are not dealing with Barack Obama. We're not even dealing with a guy who is necessarily sane,'" Glenn said.

To see more from Glenn, visit his channel on TheBlaze and watch “The Glenn Beck Radio Program” live weekdays 9 a.m.–noon ET or anytime on-demand at TheBlaze TV.