Nuclear Arms Race?
In a July 20 meeting with the nation’s top national security leaders President Donald Trump said he wanted to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal by nearly tenfold. NBC News reports military leaders were stunned, and the meeting was “tense.”
Trump’s remarks during the meeting came after he was shown slides that detailed the nuclear disarmament efforts the U.S. has undertaken over the decades. The U.S. nuclear arsenal peaked at about 32,000 weapons. It now stands at about 4000, according to NBC. Trump said he wanted to being it back to the 1960’s level, when America had the largest number of nukes.
“If he were to increase the numbers, the Russians would match him, and the Chinese†would ramp up their nuclear ambitions, Joe Cirincione, a nuclear expert and MSNBC contributor, said, referring to the president.Â
“There hasn’t been a military mission that’s required a nuclear weapon in 71 years,†Cirincione said.
NBC also reports it was just after that meeting, and apparently in response to the President’s remarks, that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron.”
Trump later tweeted video of him leaving the meeting, with “God Bless the USA” music as the background score.
It’s the same song the White House used in a video released just hours after Trump and the First Lady met with survivors last week of the Las Vegas shooting massacre.
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