President Trump on Thursday dismissed critics of his “fire and fury” warning to North Korea.

Pushing back against those who said his comments were too tough, Trump told reporters: “Maybe it wasn’t tough enough.” 

“They’ve been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years,” the president said of North Korea. “It’s about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. So if anything, that statement wasn’t tough enough.”

Tensions have escalated with North Korea over the last several days. On Tuesday, Trump reacted to reports that North Korea had produced a compact nuclear warhead by warning the country that it would face consequences if it threatened the United States.