Axios

John McCain, typically a supporter of a hawkish foreign policy, told KTAR radio Tuesday that President Trump's threat to rain "fire and fury" down on North Korea was a mistake:

"I take exception to the President's comments because you gotta be able to do what you say you're gonna do...In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelt's saying, which I think is something that should've applied because all it's going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation. I think this is very, very, very serious…The great leaders I've seen don't threaten unless they're ready to act and I'm not sure President Trump is ready to act...It's the classic Trump in that he overstates things."

That position was shared by Former Defense Secretary William J. Perry, who tweeted "Nuclear deterrence is only effective if threats are deemed credible, bluster hurts our national security posture."

North Korean state media reports that the country is considering firing missiles at the island of Guam, per Reuters. Guam is a U.S. territory in the Western Pacific with a population of about 160,000, and home to three U.S. military bases.

North Korea's military spokesman reportedly said Pyongyang would conduct a pre-emptive operation if there are signs of U.S. provocation.

The news broke just hours after President Trump warned of "fire and fury" if North Korea made any further threats. Earlier today, The Washington Post reported that U.S. intelligence has concluded North Korea has missile-ready nuclear weapons.

President Trump attacked The Washington Post and The New York Times via Twitter today for what he views as their reluctance to cover the Phoenix tarmac meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch last June:

The impetus: Trump's tweet was spurred by the American Center for Law and Justice's release of FOIA-obtained emails from the Department of Justice and FBI, which the organization claims shows that both newspapers collaborated with the DOJ and FBI to bury the story. ALCJ's chief counsel is Trump's personal attorney, Jay Sekulow.

Trump told reporters Tuesday afternoon after reports surfaced that North Korea has successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead that the North "best not" threaten the U.S., or else face "fire and fury" from the U.S.

The full statement: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening beyond a normal state, and as I said they will be met with fire, fury, and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. Thank you."

Trump on North Korean threat: "They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before." pic.twitter.com/meWtD2aQ2a — Axios (@axios) August 8, 2017

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Morning Joe on Tuesday that he feels President Trump's tweets "are designed to distract."

In response to Trump's barrage of tweets sent from his vacation, Sen. Blumenthal said he can't explain the President's obsession with him, and that he is even more determined now to protect the special counsel.

After this weekend's New York Times report that Vice President Mike Pence might be assembling a shadow 2020 presidential run, GQ imagined what a Pence presidency might look like. The biggest takeaway? Those closest to Pence insist that he's really not angling to be POTUS — at least not right now — and the God-fearing veep is focused on keeping his boss "on the path."

• How the GOP establishment views a Pence presidency: An unnamed strategist told GQ, "I've got one word if you were to compare a potential Pence presidency with the current one: boring. And that's with three O's: boooring. That is not meant as a criticism."
• But Trumpism wouldn't be dead as Pence would likely need to appeal to Trump's fervent core base by maintaining some of his populist policies, like the border wall and a renegotiation of NAFTA.

Silicon Valley investor and early Trump supporter Peter Thiel has walked back his support of the president in private conversations, reportedly telling friends that Trump's administration is "incompetent" and that there's "a 50% chance this whole thing ends in a disaster," Buzzfeed News reports.

Thiel gave a well-received speech at the Republican National Convention last year and served on the Trump transition team as a science and technology adviser.

Thiel's statement in response, which doesn't include a denial: "The night he won the election, I said President Trump would face an awesomely difficult task. Today it's clear that resistance to change in Washington, D.C. has been ever fiercer than I anticipated. We still need change. I support President Trump in his ongoing fight to achieve it."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has accelerated his committee's Russia investigation — threatening to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — leading to both cheers and jeers within the GOP, per Bloomberg.

• The argument for: Some, like Sen. Lindsey Graham, think Grassley is just doing his job by addressing issues that fall under the purview of his committee, like obstruction of justice and possible campaign finance violations.
• The argument against: Others feel the Senate Intel Committee's investigation, along with Robert Mueller's probe, are sufficient, especially as Judiciary doesn't have access to classified documents.
• Grassley on Grassley: "This is what Chuck Grassley does... I think I've got a pretty good reputation for being what I call an equal-opportunity overseer."