Trump Says US Ready to Act Alone on North Korea

FILE- North Korean soldiers turn and look towards their leader Kim Jong Un from a military parade vehicle as they carry packs marked with the nuclear symbol during a ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, July 27, 2013

President Donald Trump says if China is not going to solve the problem of North Korea, "we will."

"China has a great influence over North Korea," Trump told London's Financial Times. "And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't ... and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

Trump hosts Chinese President Xi Jinping at the U.S. leader's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida Thursday.

Their two-day summit will undoubtedly focus on North Korea and its nuclear program. Threats and sanctions, including China's recent cut-off of coal imports from North Korea, have failed to deter Pyongyang's drive to become a nuclear armed power.

U.S. experts warn North Korea is planning its sixth nuclear text. Tokyo called a February North Korean ballistic missile launch over the Sea of Japan "intolerable."

Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland told the Financial Times it is conceivable North Korea could have the ability to hit the U.S. with a nuclear-armed missile by the end of the Trump administration in 2021.

Appearing on ABC television's This Week broadcast Sunday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said it is time for China to act and stop making "excuses that they're concerned, too."

"They need to show us how concerned they are. They need to put pressure on North Korea. The only country that can stop North Korea is China," Haley said.