President Donald Trump’s first choice for secretary of defense says the US may only have one option for dealing with North Korea — a large-scale military strike.

“A pre-emptive strike against launch facilities, underground nuclear sites, artillery and rocket response forces and regime leadership targets may be the only option left on the table,” Keane told The Times of London. “We are rapidly and dangerously moving towards a military option.”

Keane, who is said to be close to Trump, declined the role of secretary of defense offered to him by the president, citing the recent death of his wife.

Keane’s statement, that a military strike, which several experts have told Business Insider would involve an unthinkable number of civilian casualties, echoes sentiments from Trump in a recent interview with the Financial Times.

Ahead of his meeting with Xi Jinping, the President of North Korea’s biggest backer, China, Trump took a hard line on North Korea, saying “China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t,” adding that “if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will.”

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Featured image courtesy of the U.S. Army.