12-23-2016, 07:34 PM
I'm surprised no one has posted this yet--already old news but important.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-tweets-apparent-call-more-us-nuclear-weapons-n699221
Donald Trump's zest for making offhand quips about his intentions on serious policy matters has launched the United States on a grand experiment: What happens when the world doesn't understand what the American president is trying to say?
In the hours after President-elect Trump tweeted about his desire to expand American nuclear weapons capability — seeming to upend decades of consensus that fewer nukes is better — experts puzzled about what he meant, his own aides seemed to walk his comment back, and Trump himself weighed in to suggest that the most extreme reading of his tweet was the right one.
Trump stunned nuclear experts Thursday by proclaiming in a tweet that "the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."
And on Friday, Trump himself weighed in again, saying in a statement to "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC: "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all."
Trump's new press secretary, Sean Spicer, appeared to try to clarify Trump's "arms race" remarks on NBC's TODAY show Friday, saying the president-elect's statements are meant as a "warning" to other nations.
"There's not going to be [an arms race] because he's going to ensure that other countries get the message that he's not going to sit back and allow that," Spicer said. "And what's going to happen is they will come to their senses and we will all be just fine."
Later, on CNN, Spicer said Trump's words should be taken literally. But when asked about Trump's statement to Brzezinski, Spicer called it a private conversation with which he was unfamiliar.
That followed remarks by newly appointed counselor to the president-elect Kellyanne Conway, who told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Thursday that Trump's tweet was effectively about posturing.
"In the case of the nuclear comment, I discussed it with him directly and he is making the point this is about nuclear proliferation in the face of rogue nations and regimes that are stockpiling weapons," Conway said.
Acton called Trump's tweet unprecedented, not only for its content, but for the notion that a president-elect would make a pronouncement about something so sensitive as nuclear weapons policy over a medium as casual as Twitter.
"Nuclear policy is not made on the hoof," he said. "Because of the extraordinary implications, it is always the result of serious interagency review and careful deliberations. Allies are consulted, presidential statements pored over, words checked and double checked, crafted and recrafted."
But Trump doesn't appear to do business that way.
"I have no doubt in my mind that Trump's Twitter feed is monitored extremely closely by foreign governments and that this will cause significant heartache," Acton said.
.................................................................................................................................
Seems that weekly Trump's messages have to be re-interpreted by Trump whisperers from his inner circle.
I am guessing Trump supporters will say his tweets are good--they keep the world guessing, lets them know the US is not kidding, etc. I think this will further destabilize the world and, if anything, force allies to rethink their alliances with the US and begin strengthening or developing alliances independent of US participation and influence.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-tweets-apparent-call-more-us-nuclear-weapons-n699221
Donald Trump's zest for making offhand quips about his intentions on serious policy matters has launched the United States on a grand experiment: What happens when the world doesn't understand what the American president is trying to say?
In the hours after President-elect Trump tweeted about his desire to expand American nuclear weapons capability — seeming to upend decades of consensus that fewer nukes is better — experts puzzled about what he meant, his own aides seemed to walk his comment back, and Trump himself weighed in to suggest that the most extreme reading of his tweet was the right one.
Trump stunned nuclear experts Thursday by proclaiming in a tweet that "the United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."
And on Friday, Trump himself weighed in again, saying in a statement to "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC: "Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all."
Trump's new press secretary, Sean Spicer, appeared to try to clarify Trump's "arms race" remarks on NBC's TODAY show Friday, saying the president-elect's statements are meant as a "warning" to other nations.
"There's not going to be [an arms race] because he's going to ensure that other countries get the message that he's not going to sit back and allow that," Spicer said. "And what's going to happen is they will come to their senses and we will all be just fine."
Later, on CNN, Spicer said Trump's words should be taken literally. But when asked about Trump's statement to Brzezinski, Spicer called it a private conversation with which he was unfamiliar.
That followed remarks by newly appointed counselor to the president-elect Kellyanne Conway, who told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Thursday that Trump's tweet was effectively about posturing.
"In the case of the nuclear comment, I discussed it with him directly and he is making the point this is about nuclear proliferation in the face of rogue nations and regimes that are stockpiling weapons," Conway said.
Acton called Trump's tweet unprecedented, not only for its content, but for the notion that a president-elect would make a pronouncement about something so sensitive as nuclear weapons policy over a medium as casual as Twitter.
"Nuclear policy is not made on the hoof," he said. "Because of the extraordinary implications, it is always the result of serious interagency review and careful deliberations. Allies are consulted, presidential statements pored over, words checked and double checked, crafted and recrafted."
But Trump doesn't appear to do business that way.
"I have no doubt in my mind that Trump's Twitter feed is monitored extremely closely by foreign governments and that this will cause significant heartache," Acton said.
.................................................................................................................................
Seems that weekly Trump's messages have to be re-interpreted by Trump whisperers from his inner circle.
I am guessing Trump supporters will say his tweets are good--they keep the world guessing, lets them know the US is not kidding, etc. I think this will further destabilize the world and, if anything, force allies to rethink their alliances with the US and begin strengthening or developing alliances independent of US participation and influence.
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