Del. Madeleine Bordallo says Jim Mattis assured her military would keep Guam safe

The U.S. representative from Guam, Madeleine Bordallo said Tuesday evening that top figures in the Pentagon have "recently" assured her that the U.S. military will keep Guam safe, even as North Korea escalates its aggressive military provocations.

During an appearance on CNN, Bordallo, a Democrat and nonvoting delegate in Congress, said that both Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Adm. Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, "always" tell her not to worry about the security of the small U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean.

"We're going to take good care of Guam," she said they told her.

Still, Bordallo told host Anderson Cooper that both she and the people of Guam are "concerned" about the North Korean threat.

Earlier in the day, Bordallo put out a statement about the North Korea threat, saying, "I am confident in the ability of U.S. defenses to protect our island and allies in the region. Her statement came after a report about a U.S. intelligence assessment which found that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its intercontinental ballistic missiles, which the country has been testing in recent months.

Bordallo's statement was also released around the time it was reported that North Korean state media broadcast North Korea's military singling out Guam as a potential target as retaliation for U.S. provocations.

The U.S. has a THAAD defense system in Guam that is meant to help guard against a missile attack. Guam, which is home to a number of U.S. military bases, is located about 2131 miles to the southeast of North Korea. Specifically, the Korean People's Army threatened to use medium- to long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 against Guam, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Guam's governor, Eddie Calvo, echoed Bordallo saying on Wednesday that Guam is defensively ready for "any eventuality."

"Guam is American soil ... We are not just a military installation," Calvo said, according to Reuters.

Bordallo, in her statement, called on President Trump to show "steady leadership" and cooperate with the international community to "de-escalate the growing tensions in the region and prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear program further."

Trump on Tuesday grabbed headlines when he escalated his rhetoric on the issue, threatening "fire and fury" against the hermit nation if it doesn't stop its nuclear weapons program.

Bordallo pushed for a peaceful resolution and said the United Nations Security Council's vote last week to slap more sanctions on North Korea shows that Pyongyang's provocations will not go unanswered.