--- title: Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Trump description: The group wrote that the Republican nominee has displayed qualities opposite of those required to hold the launch key. canonical: https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-14T15:04:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:45:28.578Z article:section: Politics og:title: Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Trump og:description: The group wrote that Trump has displayed qualities opposite of those required to hold the launch key og:url: https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274930220582d68/6988a9f6e20a87c61da92c7a/donald-trump4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Trump twitter:description: The group wrote that Trump has displayed qualities opposite of those required to hold the launch key twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274930220582d68/6988a9f6e20a87c61da92c7a/donald-trump4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Donald Trump > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### 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. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 14, 2016 3:04 PM UTC  Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event September 6, 2016 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event September 6, 2016 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Oct 14, 2016 3:04 PM UTC A group of officials who once controlled access to firing the nation’s nuclear weapons have penned an open letter saying that Donald Trump “should not have his finger” on the launch button. “The pressures the system places on that one person are staggering and require enormous composure, judgment, restraint and diplomatic skill. Donald Trump does not have these leadership qualities,” wrote the group of former Air Force officers. The group said that the Republican nominee’s behavior on the campaign trail has proved him to be unfit to possess the nation’s nuclear codes. “On the contrary, he has shown himself time and again to be easily baited and quick to lash out, dismissive of expert consultation and ill–informed of even basic military and international affairs – including, most especially, nuclear weapons,” the letter reads. The letter is the latest example of [security experts](http://time.com/4522595/gop-lawmakers-open-letter-donald-trump/) and military leaders warning of the danger of placing Trump in power. Earlier this month, a [Hillary Clinton campaign ad](http://time.com/4523386/hillary-clinton-ad-nuclear-launch-donald-trump/) featured a former nuclear launch officer saying he’s afraid of a Trump presidency. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/"},"headline":"Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-10-14T15:04:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:45:28.578Z","description":"The group wrote that Trump has displayed qualities opposite of those required to hold the launch key","url":"https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274930220582d68/6988a9f6e20a87c61da92c7a/donald-trump4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4274930220582d68/6988a9f6e20a87c61da92c7a/donald-trump4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4531271/nuclear-launch-officers-open-letter-donald-trump/","name":"Former Nuclear Launch Officers Pen Letter Against Donald Trump"}}]}] ```