US President George W. Bush said on Monday he expected terrorists to attack the United States again and acknowledged that the slow pace of nuclear diplomacy with North Korea can seem 'frustrating.'
In a two-part interview with Fox New Channel one week before key November 7 legislative elections, Bush said it was "a constant effort" to keep the United States and its partners united on Pyongyang's atomic weapons programs.
"We're making progress," he said in excerpts released by the network. "The problem is it's a little frustrating for people -- diplomacy is a little frustrating for people -- because things don't happen overnight."
"It's a constant effort to keep people bound together and the best way to do it is to remind them of what the dangers will be to the stability in the Far East if there is either a nuclear arms race, or somebody, you know, uses a nuclear weapon," said Bush.
Asked whether the United States would be struck by terrorists like those who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bush replied: "I think so, and we've got to do everything we can to stop them."
With many in his Republican party worried that the unpopular Iraq war may cost them control of the Senate or House of Representatives, or both, Bush signalled that he would pursue his agenda aggressively through the rest of his term.
"What I want people to know in Congress, and more particularly at home and around the world, is that I'm going to be president up until the very last day, and I've got a lot to do," he said.
Bush said he would work to "create the conditions so that a future president will be able to help fight this war on terror, will be able to fight this war on terror successfully."
"I've got a lot of work to do to keep our allies bound together to deal with these problems that you've just mentioned, like North Korea and Iran," he said.
"And we got a lot of work to do at home to bring -- to make sure our budgets are sane so that the deficit continues to shrink, to keep taxes low to keep the economy growing," said Bush.
"I promise you I'm going to sprint to the finish," he told Fox. "I've got a lot to do."