Pelosi urges Joint Chiefs to take nuclear codes from 'unhinged' Trump
It is next to impossible for the president to launch a nuclear strike due • officials say request reflects misunderstanding of US nuclear policy
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFU.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 17, 2019. (photo credit: REUTERS/ERIN SCOTT)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has asked the Joint Chiefs of Staff about how to take the nuclear codes away from US President Donald Trump as the Democrats work to have him removed from office ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, Politco reported.The plan was detailed in a letter sent by Pelosi to other Democratic congressmen, which labeled Trump "unhinged" and worried there were actual risks of him setting off a nuclear strike in the final few days of his presidency."The situation of this unhinged president could not be more dangerous, and we must do everything that we can to protect the American people from his unbalanced assault on our country and our democracy," she wrote in the letter, according to Politico.Despite her worries, it is next to impossible that the president would be able to launch a nuclear strike due to the US policy on nuclear weapons."There is no mythical red button. That mythical button doesn’t exist. That is a Hollywood thing,” a senior US military official who was unauthorized to use their name told Politico. “It is a very complicated process. We have legal advisers in the room on both sides — on the military side and on the civilian side. The laws of armed conflict, the law of war, play a big role in this — ethical proportionality and all that.”“The way the nuclear arsenal is employed, it is not that easy for a crazy president to go and launch nukes,” A Defense Department official added, according to Politico. “That’s kind of a silly thing to say.”Calls to remove Trump from office despite having just a few days left were sparked by the riots last Wednesday, which saw Trump supporters storm the US Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the election in favor of Biden.Lawmakers have called on Trump to resign, and have also urged Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from power. Democrats have also officially filed articles of impeachment.
