Trump wanted a massive expansion of US nuclear arsenal: report

The Hill
October 11, 2017

President Trump reportedly wanted to expand the U.S.’s nuclear arsenal by a factor of ten, a request that shocked top military officials.

At a July meeting of top military officials, the president indicated that he wanted to dramatically expand the country’s nuclear capabilities, after seeing data that showed the U.S. weapons stockpile decreasing over the past 50 years, NBC News reported.

Officials told the network that they were surprised by the president’s reaction and questioned his understanding of the issue. According to NBC News, officials said they heard Secretary of State Rex Tillerson call the president a “moron” after that meeting.

Officials present at the meeting told NBC News that Trump referenced a point when the U.S. had 32,000 nuclear warheads in the late 1960s, and said that he wanted to have that many now. The U.S. currently has 4,000 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

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This article was posted: Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at 7:53 am






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