US President-elect Donald Trump has called for the United States to greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear arsenal. Mr Trump, who takes office next month, said the US must take such action ‘until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes’.
Without explaining what he meant, he wrote this on Twitter, hours after President Vladimir Putin said Russia needs to bolster its military nuclear potential. United States has 7,100 nuclear weapons and Russia has 7,300, according to the US nonpartisan Arms Control Association.
His comment marks a jarring departure from President Barack Obama’s rhetoric, who in a famous speech in Prague in 2009 called for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Mr Trump’s tweet also came the day after he met with a group of Pentagon brass including Vice Admiral James Syring, who heads the Missile Defense Agency.