The George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations both threatened war, setting red lines that Pyongyang almost always went on to cross. Mr. Bush even declared North Korea to be one third of the “axis of evil,” along with Iraq, which the United States military invaded the next year.

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North Korean leaders correctly assessed those threats as empty, never sending the countries careening into an unintended war. And the threats didn’t seem to affect American credibility. It’s not clear that Mr. Trump, by upgrading the adjectives in his own threats, changes much.