Two years into his presidency, Trump has brought this country to the brink of nuclear war more times than any other president. Whether he’s tweeting “fire and fury” at North Korea at 2 am or proposing to increased our arsenal tenfold, Trump threatens too cavalierly to use weapons that would wipe entire cities off the map and destroy communities. If our candidates for Congress are serious about stopping Trump from pushing the red button, they need to endorse a No First Use policy this race.
As it stands, the president can command the use of a nuclear weapon whenever, wherever; there are no checks and balances on his authority over the country’s arsenal. A No First Use policy would mandate that the U.S. will never again initiate nuclear war, a policy that India and China have already adopted and Obama considered before leaving office. Not only would this prevent Trump (or any president!) from launching us into nuclear war by whim or miscalculation, it would also preclude the U.S. ever acting again as a nuclear aggressor globally. No one should be able to decide to go to nuclear war unilaterally, and it’s high time we made sure our laws reflected that.
Candidates and congressmen alike have expressed horror at the most incendiary of Trump’s stances on nuclear weapons, but failed to take bold action to stop him from using them. In moments of crisis, we need our politicians to take principled stances for forward thinking and bold action. If our Congressional candidates are serious about stopping Trump and nuclear war for good, they need to endorse a US No First Use platform this race.
John Moszyk
Via email
