WHAT’S THE STORY?
DONALD Trump has been ridiculed for suggesting the US should use nuclear bombs to prevent hurricanes from reaching US shores, according to new reports.
The US President has reportedly raised this idea on multiple occasions in meetings regarding hurricane threats with national and homeland security officials, and it is referred to in a 2017 National Security Council memo.
The story was broken by US news outfit Axios who were told by a source present, who revealed that Trump in the discussion on the threat of hurricanes, Trump said: “I got it. I got it. Why don’t we nuke them?”
WOULD IT WORK?
THE US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) views using nuclear weapons to fight hurricanes as “not a good idea”.
In the late 50s, meteorologist Jack W Reed suggested a submarine could penetrate the eye of the hurricane and launch nuclear missiles, but testing was considered too costly.
Now, NOAA predictions say the radioactive fallout from using nuclear weapons to tackle hurricanes would move with trade winds causing “devastating environmental problems” for nearby land. They also say there are no practical means to move the vast amount of air required for it to be effective.
The Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty which was signed between the US and Soviet Union in 1990 also limits the use of nuclear weapons for non-military uses to 150 kilotons for these two countries, which would be insufficient for shrinking hurricanes.
WHAT WAS THE REACTION TO TRUMP’S IDEAS?
AN official who was present at the meeting said Trump was quite firm with his idea and reiterated what he perceived to be a ground-breaking solution.
The source added the reaction to Trump’s statements was one of incredulity, saying members of the meeting were left thinking: “What the f***? What do we do with this?”
The White House refused to comment with a senior administration official saying they will not comment on private discussions between Trump and his national security team.
However, another senior administration official came out to defend Trump, saying his objective of protecting the US from hurricanes was a positive one and that it was important to ask tough questions.
Trump took to Twitter to deny the veracity of the report, writing: “The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!”
HAS TRUMP HAD OTHER UNUSUAL IDEAS?
WHETHER or not Trump did suggest the use of bombs to fight mother nature, this would not be the first of his unconventional ideas.
One of his ideas reported last week was purchasing Greenland from Denmark. The President compared this idea to a large real estate deal – and was likely motivated by the country’s potential undiscovered oil and gas reserves.
The prospect was vehemently dismissed by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who labelled it “absurd” and explained “Greenland is not Danish. Greenland belongs to Greenland”.
Trump took some offence to these comments, and later cancelled his upcoming trip to Denmark.
Another of Trump’s radical plans is a wall on the US-Mexico border, which was a hallmark of his 2016 campaign.
However, this proposal has yet to gain momentum. As of May 2019 he had received $6.1 billion in funding for it, but progress has been limited due to landowner conflicts, uncertainty over costs and debates on building materials.
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