Trump not likely to provoke North Korea in State of the Union speech

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Friday. / Reuters

U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to refrain from using provocative language to address North Korea's nuclear and missile threats in his first State of the Union address this week, according to a senior U.S. government official.

Trump can be expected to talk about North Korea, but Tuesday's speech will mainly focus on domestic issues and broader national security, the official told reporters on background Friday.

"The president gave a speech at the ... National Assembly in the Republic of Korea," he said. "I think you would look at whatever he says in the State of the Union through those lens."

Trump's speech before the National Assembly in November highlighted human rights abuses by the Kim Jong-un regime and offered a brighter future should Pyongyang abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Earlier he had threatened to totally destroy the regime and called Kim "Little Rocket Man."

"I think you could expect the tone as like the speech that he gave when he was in South Korea," the official said. (Yonhap)