Trump said to wonder ‘why US can’t use nuclear weapons’
Former CIA chief calls GOP nominee ‘inconsistent, unpredictable,’ traits that ‘frighten friends and tempt enemies’
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reportedly asked an unnamed foreign policy adviser why the US couldn’t use nuclear weapons.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough interviewed former CIA chief and National Security Agency director Michael Hayden Wednesday. During the interview, the reporter cited a foreign policy expert who had met with the Republican nominee.
“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 have them, why can’t we use them,” Scarborough said on Wednesday’s edition of “Morning Joe.”
“That’s one of the reasons why he just doesn’t have foreign policy experts around him,” Scarborough remarked.
In March, Trump appeared to advocate nuclear proliferation, saying that American allies such as Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia should develop nuclear weapons to deter other nuclear-armed countries.
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
“You have so many countries already — China, Pakistan, you have so many countries, Russia — you have so many countries right now that have them,” Trump said in a Milwaukee, Wisconsin town hall televised by CNN. “Now, wouldn’t you rather, in a certain sense, have Japan have nuclear weapons when North Korea has nuclear weapons?”
Asked how much time passed between the commander-in-chief ordering a nuclear strike and it being carried out, Hayden, who also served as head of the CIA under the George W. Bush administration, replied, “It’s scenario dependent, but the system is designed for speed and decisiveness. It’s not designed to debate the decision.”
“He’s inconsistent,” Hayden said, explaining why he couldn’t cast a vote for Trump in the November election, “and when you’re the head of a global superpower, inconsistency, unpredictability, those are dangerous things. They frighten your friends and they tempt your enemies.”
He said none of his peers were advising Trump.
