(Cartoon image is by Portuguese cartoonist Cristina Sampaio.)One of the reasons given during the campaign as to why people shouldn't vote for Trump was that he would have his finger on the nuclear button. The scary part of that was he had said he didn't see why nuclear weapons could not be used. His supporters ignored that threat, evidently believing no one could be stupid enough to actually use nuclear weapons. It is now looking like they were wrong.
Consider this tweet from Trump a couple of days ago:
"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes."
Trump's aides tried to play off the remark, saying Trump was really talking about nuclear disarmament. Trump himself didn't talk like that. In a TV interview, when asked to explain his remark, he just made things even worse by saying:
"Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them at every pass. And outlast them all."
It looks like Trump is ready and very willing to reverse the decades old trend toward nuclear disarmament, and initiate a new nuclear arms race -- a race that could result in tragedy for not just the United States, but for the entire world. He seems to think he can use any language he wants and commit any action he wants, and he'll always come out on top. Unfortunately, the world doesn't work that way.
He's not trying to intimidate unions or business rivals anymore. He is playing a much more dangerous game, and the rest of the world is watching closely. How can they trust a man that talks so cavalierly about nuclear weapons? The answer is they can't. Trump is making the world a much more dangerous place -- and he hasn't even been sworn in yet. What will he do when his finger is actually on the button?
