Trump goes one step further and says 'Let it be an arms race'

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump precisely stated that he meant “a nuclear arms race“ when he was asked clarify his comments on twitter, “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.” His answer is now creating a controversy now.

On Friday local time, Mika Brzezinski, a host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, spoke with Trump on the phone and asked him to explain the meaning of his tweet and Trump said, “Let it be an arms race. We will outmatch them (Russia and other competing nations) at every pass and outlast them all.” His comment is interpreted that his administration is willing to be engaged in an arms race if Russia and other nations aim to strengthen their nuclear capability.

Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, had an interview with CNN on the same day and said that Trump’s reported comment about an “arms race.” “There are countries around the globe right now that are talking about increasing their nuclear capacity (against non-proliferation)," he said. The United States is not going to sit back and allow that to happen (without acting in kind).”

Some experts predict that Trump would soon continue the U.S.’s nuclear modernization program that was established during the Obama administration in order to strengthen its nuclear capability. President Obama laid the groundwork for a 1 trillion dollars (about 1,205 trillion won) overhaul of the nation’s nuclear arsenal that will be continued for 30 years starting from 2021 including Minuteman III and other warheads on intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and nuclear facilities. In an interview with Politico, a leading magazine for political analysis, Georgetown University professor Matthew Kroenig argued, “Beijing is expanding its nuclear forces and it is estimated that the number of Chinese warheads capable of reaching the U.S. homeland has more than trebled in the past decade and North Korea has continued to grow its nuclear arsenal and means of delivery and has issued chilling nuclear threats against the U.S. and its Asian allies including South Korea. On this matter, Trump’s argument to strengthen the U.S.’s nuclear strategy anyhow is right.”

The 2017 index of U.S. Military Strength issued by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research think tank, assessed that the nuclear capability of the U.S. has weakened. Many observed that the Heritage Foundation’s review served as a theoretical ground for Trump’s decision to strengthen Washington’s nuclear capability.

The Heritage Foundation assessed that in the five-grade scale, factors of current U.S. nuclear warhead stockpile, and ICBM and other means to carry nuclear warheads recorded grade 4 or strong, but reported that nuclear warhead modernization, nuclear facility, and nuclear test readiness scored weak or grade 2. The foundation eval‎uated that overall U.S. nuclear weapons capability score is marginal or grade 3. It urged to improve the U.S. nuclear capability as many scientists and engineers with practical nuclear weapon design and testing experience are retired and the country has not developed a new nuclear warhead for a long time. Thus, sooner or later the U.S. may not develop warheads even if it wants to.

Seung-Heon Lee ddr@donga.com