As if Republican nominee Donald Trump isn’t frightening enough, he just said something scarier. After the Republican convention, Trump started receiving classified intelligence briefings. On the same day as his first one, he leaked potentially classified information at a campaign rally.
Now, we found about about some questions he asked of his advisers. Joe Scarborough of MSNBC talked about an incident from a few months ago. He said this about The Donald:
“Several months ago, a foreign policy expert on the international level went to advise Donald Trump. And three times [Trump] asked about the use of nuclear weapons. Three times he asked at one point if we had them why can’t we use them.”
Scarborough was interviewing Michael Hayden, former NSA and CIA chief, when he made this comment. Joe then asked Hayden about the hypothetical scenario of Donald Trump asking for a nuclear bomb to be dropped. Hayden said:
“It’s scenario dependent, but the system is designed for speed and decisiveness. It’s not designed to debate the decision.”
Watch: What are some major concerns about Trump's handling of national security? Hayden and #morningjoe weigh in. https://t.co/FyFoSmJlJI
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) August 3, 2016
Trump’s erratic behavior lately would cause major problems if he were POTUS. He changes his mind on things daily and he makes impulse decisions. We don’t need someone like that handling (or starting) a war.
Many legal experts are saying that Trump would be a threat to national security. He’s already asked Russia to hack our email systems. His patriotism needs to be questioned.
Joe Noonan, a national security expert who worked with Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, said this about Trump’s eagerness to use nuclear weapons.
He gave several tweets on the subject:
1. I cant get this in one tweet. So bear with me as I air some laundry here on Scarborough's claim Trump's interested in nuclear First Use
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
2. Pulled 300 nuclear alerts, 100 ft under the Wyoming turf. Job is serious and full of serious people.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
3. When we went into ICBM training, we went through a battery of tests and interviews. Are you sane? Are you willing to turn your key?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
4. I see how those might sound at odds.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
5. But the whole idea behind nuclear deterrence is that you don't use the damn things. So I thought the mission credible and worthy.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
6. There are a hell of a lot of bad actors out there who have nukes. They are restrained only by our ability to instantly lay waste to them.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
7. The nuke triad, which Trump doesn't have a clue about, has been the single greatest contributor to global peace for decades. You heard me
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
8. I dont know if Scarborough is telling whole truth here. Anonymous sources suck. BUT… if he is… buckle the hell up.
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
9. Because Trump would be undoing 6 decades of proven deterrence theory. The purpose of nukes is that they are never used. Trump disagrees?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
10. This would be the single greatest strategic shift in US national security in decades. In a Trump Presidency, our foreign policy
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
11. ….would be this. "Leave our alliances, fall back on a nuclear first use policy." Does he understand just how F'ing dangerous that is?
— John Noonan (@noonanjo) August 3, 2016
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons noted this about nuclear weapons:
“Nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power and the threat they pose to the environment and human survival. They release vast amounts of energy in the form of blast, heat, and radiation. No adequate humanitarian response is possible. In addition to causing tens of millions of immediate deaths, a regional nuclear war involving around 100 Hiroshima-sized weapons would disrupt the global climate and agricultural production so severely that more than a billion people would be at risk of famine.”
A potential president should not be excited about using these weapons. No one should actually want to use them. They should never be used again.
Here is another news clip about the issue:
Featured image via YouTube screengrab.
