Trump threatened to use the authority of the federal government to target NBC

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump claimed about his intention to use the authority of the federal government to target NBC, the New York Times reported. President's decision came after NBC's report that Trump stood for a dramatic increase in the nuclear arsenal of the US.

There are 7,100 nuclear weapons in the US, as the US non-partisan Arms Control Association stated. On his official Twitter account, President Trump objected to the report and noted the possible retaliation.

Details of the report

On October 11, NBC reported that during a meeting at the Pentagon in summer 2017, President Trump stated that he was going to increase the nuclear weapons stockpile up to ten times. Some security authorities were surprised by his decision, and later that day, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly said that Donald Trump was a “moron.”

Talking with the reporters in the Oval Office that day, Trump said that it was disgusting that the press could write anything they decided. He also noted that the press should provide more honest information. Trump explained to the reporters that he was satisfied with the number of the current nuclear arsenal, but added that he wanted certain modernization, BBC reported.

In some hours, Trump stated the necessity of punishing media organizations, up to their licenses possibly revoked.

Officials were against Trump's decision

National security authorities explained that such a decision would contravene decades of the huge efforts, taken since the 1960s, to curb nuclear weapons. It would also mean the violation of the treaties signed by the former Republican and Democratic presidents.

The experts from the Federal Communications Commission explained that licenses are issued to local stations, not to networks. According to them, it would be uneasy for Trump to remove broadcasters' licenses claiming that the coverage was unfair.

Trump's decision to target NBC could mean the undermining of the First Amendment.

Ex-chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler said that Broadcast licenses were not a political toy but a public trust.

In the beginning of this week, Trump made a similar threat to use federal tax law to target the National Football League and punish the players who violated the rule of standing during the National Anthem and knelt down to show their disagreement with the racial injustice.