Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman discusses Russia, N. Korea during Sarasota visit

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Hugh Shelton praised Vietnam War veterans at a ceremony Thursday on Patriot Plaza at the National Cemetery.

“You are the greatest members of your generation," Shelton told the veterans to their applause.

He spoke before a crowd of 500.

He added, “To our veterans today, we celebrate your service to our nation. You chose to stand up and be counted. You are a breed of men and women who elected not to avoid the draft."

Before the ceremony, we had a chance to speak with General Shelton about the military and some key issues facing our nation. He says our military is strong because of the men and women who serve.

“That to me is the real strength of America. I think our potential adversaries recognize it as well. When you take the technologies America has and combine it with the capabilities of our Armed Forces that’s an unbeatable power,” said Shelton.

We spoke about the current commander in chief, President Donald Trump.

“Right now I have no reason to be concerned about his leadership. He has a strong national security team behind him with (Defense) Secretary (James) Mattis and the Joint Chiefs. My concerns are minimal. I think we’ve got a great President. He deserves our support, despite what the news media says.”

On national security issues, Shelton says Russia is more of a threat to the U.S. than China.

“Russia is to be reckoned with. They’ve got a leader there in Putin that has his own agenda in mind, and it’s not good for America. We have to maintain a strong watch over what Russia is doing and make sure Putin doesn’t take control of the rest of the world,” said Shelton.

But he said China is playing a role in U.S. relations with North Korea.

Shelton explained, “I think (President Kim) Jong-un is driving the agenda. I think by virtue of the fact he’s agreeing to meet with us is coming as a result of China intervening. We need to make sure what we want out of this meeting. Go in with the right message to either get rid of the nuclear weapons or you face the consequences, period, end of message.”