Trump's deputy national security adviser told agencies to come up with some 'creative ideas' on North Korea
A former aide on the National Security Council under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, McFarland said that her efforts resulted in a set of policy and military options that "we didn't realize we might have had."
But McFarland said she had to push government officials to abandon the positions the US has taken for decades. She was disappointed with the initial options she was presented with.
"They came back with the same old mush, which was a little bit of policy, a little bit of sanctions, a little bit of diplomacy," McFarland said. "And I said, after they came back with this, 'This is what we've been doing for 20 years, none of this works.'"
So McFarland said she told representatives from the Departments of Defense, State, Justice, Commerce, and Treasury, as well as members of the military and intelligence communities, to "go back and talk to the people in the bowels of your building and come back with some really creative ideas."
"There is nothing that's off the table, and think outside the box," she added.
In recent months, the Trump administration has sent mixed signals on North Korea, at times taking a more aggressive stance than its predecessors, threatening to use military force against the country and leverage America's trade relationship with China to pressure it to act against North Korea. At other points, administration officials have said they are putting pressure on the country to enter into dialogue with the US and its allies.