By Nicole Gaouette, Sat February 25, 2017, cnn.com
Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump would like the US to be “at the top of the pack” when it comes to having nuclear weapons.
The statement, in an interview with Reuters Thursday, left non-proliferation experts puzzled and concerned.
The President said the US has “fallen behind on nuclear weapons capacity” and that, while he would like to see the lethal weapons abolished, as long as they exist “we’re never going to fall behind on nuclear power.” And he added that an agreement with Russia to limit nuclear arms is “a one-sided deal.”
But experts describe America’s nuclear program as strong and dominant, and worry about the implications of his comments.
“I know of no senior American military officer who says ‘I would like to trade American nuclear forces with anybody else,'” said Steven Pifer, director of arms control and nonproliferation at the Brookings Institution, who said he and other experts are “just not sure where Trump’s getting his information.”
Here are some of the questions raised by his comments. More report is on CNN.