CIA Director defends Trump's nuclear button tweet

Defending United States President Donald Trump nuclear button tweet, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo has stated that the post "is entirely consistent" with the U.S. policy.

"That tweet is entirely consistent with what we're trying to communicate", the Hill quoted Pompeo as saying on Fox News Sunday.

Rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, which conducted its largest nuclear test in September and fired off a powerful ICBM in late November, have raised concerns worldwide.

Pompeo added, "We want the regime to understand that this administration is prepared to do what it takes to assure that people in Los Angeles, in Denver, in New York are not held at risk from Kim Jong Un having a nuclear weapon".

He reiterated, "That tweet is entirely consistent with that policy".

The recent development unfolded as Trump hit back at North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, saying that he too has a nuclear button on his desk which was much bigger and powerful than his.

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times'. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Trump wrote in a Tweet.

Trump's tweet came days after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warned the United States that "the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office".

"The entire mainland of the US is within the range of our nuclear weapons and the nuclear button is always on the desk of my office. They should accurately be aware that this is not a threat but a reality," he said, according to a CNN translation of his speech, during his national New Year's address.

He also declared that North Korea was "a responsible nuclear nation that loves peace" and that "the U.S. cannot wage a war" against it.

Trump has long been trading insults with Jong-un over this issue.

While Trump has referred to Jong-un as "rocket man", his rival had previously called him a "mentally deranged dotard".