Trump discussed nuclear strike on North Korea and blaming another country, book says

The big picture: The book's afterword recounts then-White House chief of staff John Kelly's concern in 2017 regarding Trump's frequent talk of going to war with North Korea, per NBC News.

• Trump "cavalierly discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea, saying that if he took such an action, the administration could blame someone else for it to absolve itself of responsibility," Schmidt writes.
• "It’d be tough to not have the finger pointed at us," Kelly told Trump, according to the book.
• Kelly tried to dissuade Trump from perusing the option by explaining the economic repercussions of such a move. He also brought in military leaders to explain to Trump the likelihood with which war between the U.S. and North Korea would break out and the devastating consequences that could result.
• Schmidt reports that the prospect of how many people could be killed had "no impact on Trump."

• Trump was also "baffled and annoyed" that he would need congressional approval in order to conduct a preemptive strike on North Korea.

What they're saying: "For the paperback of my book “Donald Trump v. the U.S.” I’ve done something a bit different than most authors and written a 12,000 word biography of Gen John Kelly onto it, telling the tale of his time as Trump’s" chief of staff, Schmidt tweeted Thursday.