Trump Calls for Nuclear Arms Race

Trump doubled down on his call for a new nuclear arms race minutes ago.

It started with a Tweet:

It was quickly followed by his surrogates clarifying that Trump was calling for modernization of our nuclear arsenal.  Kellyanne and Sean Spicer tried really hard. Then Trump spoke.

Minutes ago, on Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski spoke with Trump.  He clarified his intent:  “Let It Be An Arms Race”.  “We will outmatch them at every pass and outlast them all.”

BREAKING: Trump to #morningjoe on the nukes tweet: 'Let it be an arms race' https://t.co/X9FMNtgKPK

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) December 23, 2016

Joe Scarbourgh and Mika quickly spun this as Trump attempting to show he isn’t Putin’s friend. They also raised the possibility that Trump was pursuing a strategy similar to Ronald Reagan and toppling the Soviet Union or Nixon and opening relations with China.  Other guests pointed out just how concerning this may be.

The discussion did not raise how the world has changed and become more complex since Nixon and Reagan.  Or how most importantly, Nixon and Reagan enjoyed the strength of the US having the strongest economy and the strongest military.

Another explaination for Trumps tweets is he is simply distracting us from his problems related to Russia’s influence on his election.

Without anything more than a tweet and a reported conversation with Mika, America is left to hope Trump is as strategic and diplomatically nimble as Nixon and Reagan.

Update: Putin responds “If arms race speeds up, it’s not us.”