Former US Secretary Of Defense Mattis Reportedly Slept In His Clothes To Be Ready For North Korea's Missile Launches Against The U.S.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis visits the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea on Oct. 27, 2017. (U.S. Army / Sgt. Amber I. Smith)

Task & Purpose/Business Insider: James Mattis reportedly slept in his clothes to be ready for North Korea's missile launches

Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis slept in his clothes because of North Korea's missile launches amid the U.S.'s rocky relations with the regime in 2017, according to a new book on the Trump administration.

The account comes from CNN's review of Bob Woodward's upcoming book, Rage, which is scheduled for release on September 15.

According to the book, U.S.-North Korean relations were fragile and the potential for nuclear war was on the mind of the president's national security staff. Pyongyang fired roughly two dozen missiles in 2017, including its highest-ever intercontinental ballistic missile, shortly after Donald Trump became president.

As North Korean leader Kim Jong Un continued to conduct missile and nuclear tests, Trump warned the regime of "fire and fury" if it threatened the U.S.. The situation concerned Trump's national security team, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who reportedly said, "We never knew whether it was real" or "a bluff."

Meanwhile, then-Defense Secretary Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, had slept in his clothes in case of North Korea's missile launch and visited the nearby Washington National Cathedral to pray, according to CNN's review of the book.

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WNU Editor: I commented at the time that I was not worried that this would explode into a shooting war. North Korea's is known to be bombastic. They are also always playing to their own audience, not to the US public. And you do not have to be a genius to know that  war was definitely not in Kim Jong-un's interest .... or anyone else for that matter. But I do admit that I was surprised when the US and South Korea approached North Korea after this period of tensions. We now know that Kim Jong-un wants better relations, and that is a positive sign. How to get there is going to take time.