Foreign Policy

Mattis calls report Trump wanted to expand US nuclear arsenal ‘absolutely false’

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday denied reports President Donald Trump wanted to increase the US nuclear-weapons stockpile tenfold.

“Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the US nuclear arsenal are absolutely false,” Mattis said in a statement. “This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible.”

According to an NBC News report published early on Wednesday, Trump expressed dismay at the state of the US nuclear arsenal in a July 20 meeting after seeing a chart showing the decline of the stockpile since the 1960s.

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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday denied reports President Donald Trump wanted to increase the US nuclear-weapons stockpile tenfold.

“Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the US nuclear arsenal are absolutely false,” Mattis said in a statement. “This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible.”

According to an NBC News report published early on Wednesday, Trump expressed dismay at the state of the US nuclear arsenal in a July 20 meeting after seeing a chart showing the decline of the stockpile since the 1960s.

Trump reportedly said he didn’t want to be at the bottom position on the chart’s downward-sloping curve and called for a tenfold increase.

 

Read the whole story from Business Insider

Featured image courtesy of DoD

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The SOFREP News Team is a collective of professional military journalists. Brandon Tyler Webb is the SOFREP News Team's Editor-in-Chief. Guy D. McCardle is the SOFREP News Team's Managing Editor. Brandon and Guy both manage the SOFREP News Team.

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