Weapons experts rattled by Trump’s nuclear arsenal comments
Officials fear new Cold War
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump shook up longstanding international security norms Friday by reportedly suggesting a renewed arms race, a day after he tweeted that the United States should “greatly strengthen and expand” its nuclear weapons capability.
Trump’s meaning was sufficiently cryptic, perhaps deliberately so, that disarmament experts, foreign leaders and U.S. officials were left off balance — and unsure if he plans to upend U.S. policy on nuclear arms after he enters the White House in 28 days.
Since his election, Trump has rocked the foreign policy establishment by praising Russian President Vladimir Putin, and by speaking to the president of Taiwan and questioning the “One China” policy that only recognizes Beijing.
He also has challenged long-standing policy toward Israel, saying he will move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, a disputed city, and naming an ambassador who supports Israeli settlements likely to block any resumption of the peace process.
But speaking recklessly about nuclear proliferation poses high risks in an unstable world, especially if it signals a possible end to decades of efforts and accords aimed at reducing the size and number of nuclear weapons.
On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to shrug off Trump’s tweet as “nothing new,” telling a news conference in Moscow that he would welcome a Trump invitation to visit the U.S.
China appeared more concerned. A foreign ministry spokesman said Beijing was “closely watching” the incoming administration’s nuclear policies, adding that the “country with the largest nuclear arsenal should assume a special and prior responsibility on nuclear disarmament.”
The numbers fluctuate, but Russia currently has about 400 more warheads, while the United States has 170 more delivery systems, according to the State Department Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance.
Whatever his intention, Trump’s comments mark a severe shift in the tone and substance that Republican and Democratic presidents have used in the past when discussing nuclear weapons.
“It is a significant departure from what we have heard in the past,” said Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, a nonpartisan group that seeks to reduce the spread and power of nuclear weapons.
“None of them came out in this brazen way,” he added. “That means countries around the world are trying to figure out what is going on. Is it a madman or a new policy that they have to deal with? It creates uncertainty and suspicion both among allies and adversaries.”
The flap began Thursday after Putin was reported telling a defense ministry meeting in Moscow that Russia needs “to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces.”
Apparently in response, Trump tweeted that “the U.S. must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.”
The back-and-forth raised concerns that the two countries, which control 95 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, might be resuming the destabilizing arms race that defined much of the Cold War.