Words of a man who means business.
According to a report by NBC, US President Donald Trump told a meeting of the country’s highest-ranking national security leaders that he wanted to increase the number of nuclear weapons in the United States arsenal.
In the meeting, President Trump said that he wanted an increase that amounted to nearly tenfold of what is currently in the possession of the US.
According to three officials who were in the room at the time, the comments from Trump came in response to a briefing slide that he was shown, charting the steady reduction of US nuclear weapons since the late 60s.
The graph obviously hit a chord with the President as he indicated that he wanted the stockpile to get bigger, not to be at the bottom position of a downward-sloping curve.
Officials had to explain to Trump about the legal and practical impediments to a nuclear build-up and how the current military posture is stronger than it was at the height of the buildup.
The officials also told NBC News that no such expansion has been planned yet.
The meeting was described as long and drawn out and at times, there was a tense review of worldwide US forces and operations.
Trump's latest comments come a few days after these
tweets aimed at North Korea were posted on his Twitter account.
He also made vague remarks while at a meeting with various US military figures, at which he told reporters that this is "the calm before the storm." When asked to clarify his remarks, Trump simply said: "You'll find out."
