Brandis downplays Trump's 'exuberance'

Attorney-General George Brandis has dispatched questions on Donald Trump's threatening tweets towards North Korea with characteristic flourish.

Senator Brandis has been quizzed in parliament about Mr Trump's vow to respond with "fire and fury" if North Korea persisted in threatening the United States.

"We would be very foolish to glean foreign policy from American presidential rhetoric," the attorney-general said on Monday afternoon.

Senator Brandis harked back to John F Kennedy's inaugural address when pressed by the Greens about the "reckless" tweet and Australia's close military ties with America.

"I remember a previous American president once declared that he would pay any price, bear any burden, support any friend and oppose any foe," he said.

"President Trump is not the first American president who has engaged in rhetorical exuberance."