In another of a series of miscues regarding the Trump administration’s North Korea foreign policy, Trump claimed that he was sending an “armada” to the Korean Peninsula. North Korean officials probably had a laugh when news leaked that the “armada,” which included the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier, had at the time been heading to Australia for joint naval exercises. It still hasn’t arrived in the Sea of Japan.

North Korean officials weren’t the only ones laughing either. Trump’s established pattern of grandiose posturing without any action to back it up is starting to take a toll on US relations with other foreign countries.

Trump has long attempted to make Chinese President, Xi Jinping, his ally in inducing harsher regulations on North Korea so that there can be a “denuclearized Korean peninsula.” This blunder however hampers whatever chance there may have been of China supporting the US’ efforts to rein in Pyongyang before the UN.

It is no secret that North Korea has been testing intermediate range ballistic missiles off its coast frequently through the early months of 2017. Two countries imminently in danger of a North Korean ballistic missile attack are South Korea and Japan, two US allies baffled by Trump’s comments in recent weeks. South Korean Presidential candidate Hong Joon-pyo expressed this frustration: “If [what Trump said] was a lie, then during Trump’s term, South Korea will not trust whatever Trump says.” On May 9th, South Korea’s presidential election—held to replace the impeached Park Geun-hye—resulted in victory for Moon Jae-in, a liberal, pro-dialogue candidate, rather than the aforementioned Hong, a member of Park’s former party, which is relatively hawkish. Lack of trust of Trump’s claims among South Koreans may very well have helped out Moon, as the South has long relied on the steadfastness of its American military support as a bulwark against North Korean aggression

The problem with Trump’s posturing is that it has no effect on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. In a nation where nearly forty percent of the people receive less than the necessary number of calories every day, there is no measure President Trump can take that Kim Jong Un won’t respond to. After dropping the “mother of all bombs” on eastern Afghanistan, Trump thinks flexing the US’ military firepower will make Pyongyang back off, or at least discontinue their missile tests. On April 26th, North Korea responded to Trump’s aggressive and fractious rhetoric by displaying a propaganda video through the pro-North Korean propaganda website Meari, according to The Washington Post. This video depicts a missile attack on the US Capitol building and the USS Carl Vinson. If the simulation is enough for President Trump to reconsider his saber-rattling, then it is likely that United States and North Korea are headed down the path towards mutually ensured destruction. On April 27th, Trump warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible, a claim that eerily echoes the words of Kim Jong Un himself.