--- title: Donald Trump a "Clear Danger": Ex-Nuclear Launch Officers description: In an open letter to Congress, 17 former nuclear launch offers warned President Trump's nuclear authority is "a clear and present danger." canonical: https://time.com/5100301/nuclear-launch-officers-letter-donald-trump-danger/ author: Eli Meixler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-12T06:26:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:45:44.276Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Is "a Clear and Present Danger": Nuclear Officers og:description: 17 former U.S. nuclear launch officers have written an open letter to Congress og:url: https://time.com/5100301/nuclear-launch-officers-letter-donald-trump-danger/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt659502bf0d56adde/6988f8078fd2ee613d35a4ff/gettyimages-903962182.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3900 og:image:height: 2194 og:image:alt: White House - Washington, DC og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Is "a Clear and Present Danger": Nuclear Officers twitter:description: 17 former U.S. nuclear launch officers have written an open letter to Congress twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt659502bf0d56adde/6988f8078fd2ee613d35a4ff/gettyimages-903962182.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Group of Former Nuclear Launch Officers Calls President Trump 'A Clear and Present Danger' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f1620d30-4b6a-493c-9a9e-fb7e9f0968d4&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/1PwxZnjP.m3u8) (2:43)  _Published 2017-08-24. Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons_ by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 12, 2018 6:26 AM UTC Donald Trump on Nuclear Weapons by [Eli Meixler](https://time.com/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Jan 12, 2018 6:26 AM UTC U.S. President Donald Trump’s readiness to threaten the use of America’s nuclear arsenal has unnerved diplomats and academics and [inflamed tensions with North Korea](http://time.com/5085997/north-korea-donald-trump-war/) over the first year of his presidency. Now former nuclear missile launch operators are adding themselves to the list of concerned observers. In an [open letter to Congress](https://globalzero.org/files/missileer%5Fstatement%5Fjan%5F2018%5F17.pdf) on Thursday, a group of 17 former nuclear launch officers argued that President Trump “poses a clear and present danger to the country and the world” and warned that “there are no reliable safeguards” to prevent Trump from deciding to launch a nuclear missile on his own. The letter was published by international nuclear disarmament advocacy group [Global Zero](https://www.globalzero.org/), and [follows a similar letter](http://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/) written at the close of the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s “inflammatory rhetoric has put the United States on a collision course with North Korea,” the new letter says, citing a recent exchange in which [Trump boasted that his “nuclear button”](http://time.com/5085367/donald-trump-north-korea-nuclear-button-tweet/) is “bigger and more powerful” than North Korea’s. “Threats of [‘fire and fury’](http://time.com/4893220/trump-fire-fury-truman-rain-ruin/) and total destruction of the Kim dictatorship undercut diplomatic efforts and increase the likelihood of stumbling into conflict,” the officers wrote. **Read more**: [_Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Donald Trump_](http://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/) Although there is no literal “nuclear button,” the president does hold a the [unique and singular authority to order a nuclear strike](http://time.com/5085723/nuke-button-donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-north-korea/). The officers mention several “common-sense” proposals currently in Congress that would limit Trump’s ability to unilaterally deploy a nuclear weapon without the approval of the Defense Secretary, Attorney General, or Congress. In Nov., a rare Senate Foreign Relations Committee [discussed the nuclear chain of command](http://time.com/5024035/donald-trump-nuclear-weapons-authority/) after [Trump warned](http://time.com/4926103/donald-trump-north-korea-bomb-test/) North Korea that any attack would be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” ## Transcript As far as nuclear is concerned, this country, us we need a shield because Russia is unstable. We need a [ UNKNOWN ] defence shield. Donald Trump has long been fascinated by the power of nuclear weapons. In one of his first major interviews on politics, Trump told a reporter from the Washington Post in 1984, that his dream was to become the lead negotiator for the U. S. on a nuclear arms deal with the Soviets. It would take an hour and a half to learn everything there is to learn about missiles, he said. I think I know most of it anyway. Trump usually credits that knowledge to his Uncle John, a physicist at MIT. Having nuclear, my uncle was a great professor in scientist and engineer Dr. John Trump at MIT. Good genes very good genes okay? But to critics his understanding is thin enough to be a serious concern. At a 2015 debate in the Republican Primary, Trump seemed stumped by the concept of the nuclear triad, the defense system in which the US maintains missiles that can be fired from land, sea, or air. That is the single biggest problem that our country faces. Of the three legs of the triad though, do you have a priority. Do you want to go to Senator Rubio after that? To me, nuclear, the power, the devastation is very important to me. And he's made some provocative comments about nuclear weapons over the years. Let me talk about some of the issues. One is North Korea and you say that you, as President, would be willing to launch a pre- emptive strike against North Korea's nuclear capability. First, I'd negotiate. I would negotiate like crazy and I'd make sure we tried to get the best deal possible. And can you tell the Middle East we're not using any nuclear weapons? I would never say that. I would never take any of my cards off the table. How about Europe? We won't use them in Europe. I'm not going to take it off the table. You might use it in Europe? No. I don't think but I'm not taking-- Well just say it. I'm never going to use a nuclear weapon. I. In Europe. I am not taking cards off the table. I'm not gonna use nukes- Okay. But I'm not taking any cards- Okay, so trouble is the- During the campaign, both Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama argue that he shouldn't be trusted with the nuclear arsenal. A man you can bait with a tweet, is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons. [ APPLAUSE ] Apparently, his campaign has taken away his Twitter. If somebody can't handle a Twitter account, they can't handle the nuclear code. But now that Trump is president, he's continued making provocative comments about nuclear war. North Korea. Best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. 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