U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States needs to strengthen and expand its nuclear arsenal and armories. According to Trump, it would wonderful if no nation possesses nuclear weapons, but seeing they do - the U.S. must be at the top of the nuclear pack.
U.S. lagging behind
He regretted that the U.S. is currently lagging behind on nuclear weapon capability. The U.S. has an estimated 6,800 nuclear weapons while Russia has about 7,000, based on estimates by the U.S. nonpartisan Arms Control Association but there are concerns that the U.S.
and Russia are already equipped with more weapons than required to serve as a deterrent to nuclear attack. Therefore, Mr. Trump’s call is seen by critics as unnecessary.
A nuclear free world
While addressing the press in an interview, President Trump said he would be happy to see that nobody has 'nukes' but would be unhappy seeing the U.S. falling behind any country with regards to Nuclear Arms; even if such a nation is a friendly one. He said that the U.S. must not fall behind on nuclear weapons. It would be a great dream if no country has nukes, but the U.S. should be at the top if countries are going to have nuclear weapons.
U.S. capability
Trump had earlier promised to increase the U.S. capability shortly after his election victory, in a tweet.
The U.S. and Russia had pledged to reduce its nuclear to equal levels for 10 years by 5 February 2018 in an arms limitation treaty signed by both nations during the Obama administration. The independent Arms Control Association has lashed out at Mr. Trump for his recent remarks on nuclear proliferation.
Critics lashed at Trump
He has been described as ill-informed about nuclear weapons and lacking understanding of the negative effects of nuclear proliferation. The independent Arms Control Association also cited the Cold War that shows that no one can claim to be on ‘top of the pack’ of a nuclear race. "We should be talking about disarming ourselves by doing away with the ones we have, it is regretful that Mr. Trump is reasoning this way," they added.
