No, the Trump transition isn’t endangering U.S. nukes. Here’s what to really worry about

Angry Planet

Matthew Gault

War, Politics, Conflict, Government, History, News

4.3 • 882 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2017

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On Jan. 9, 2017, Gizmodo ran a story titled “Trump Just Dismissed the People in Charge of Maintaining Our Nuclear Arsenal.” The article published claims from unnamed members of the National Nuclear Security Administration who said the incoming president had ordered them to clear out their desks before his inauguration. People on Twitter traded speculation about what an empty NNSA might mean for America’s nuclear security come Jan. 21. Within several hours, however, Gizmodo updated the story, changed the title (to “Trump Is Letting Go the People in Charge of Maintaining Our Nuclear Arsenal”) and issued a correction. The situation, it seemed, was not as dire as everyone suspected. During the first few hours after the stories publication, U.S. Naval War College professor and nuclear policy expert Tom Nichols took to Twitter to calm everyone down. He urged caution in the face of panic, reminded people that the NNSA wasn’t a very old agency, its role in nuclear security unclear and that transitions are always messy. But that doesn’t mean he’s not worried about the President-elect’s plans for America’s nuclear arsenal. This week on War College, we sit down with Tom Nichols to discuss the Gizmodo story, the NNSA and Trump’s nuclear ambitions. For Nichols, when it comes to Trump you never know until he takes action. When it comes to nukes, even minor actions can have dire consequences. by Matthew Gault edited and produced by Bethel Habte

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Love this podcast.
0:02.0	Support this show through the A-Cast supporter feature.
0:05.0	It's up to you how much you give and there's no regular commitment.
0:09.0	Just click the link in the show description to support now.
0:12.0	The opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the participants, not of Reuters News.
0:20.0	The idea that if there isn't an administrator to replace the outgoing
0:24.6	administrator in the next, you know, 10 days that somehow all of our nuclear
0:30.2	weapons are going to be left by the street during, you know, fissionable material pickup day.
0:34.7	It's simply not accurate. You're listening to Reuters War College, a discussion of the world in conflict, focusing
0:50.1	on the stories behind the front lines. Here's your host, Matthew Galt.
0:55.0	Hello and welcome to War College. I am your host Matthew Galt. With us today is
1:05.8	US Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols. He is the course director for
1:10.1	security strategy and forces and an expert on national security and a Jeopardy Champion.
1:15.0	He's long been a critic of American nuclear strategy and he's here to talk to us today
1:20.0	about President-elect Donald Trump's nuclear ambitions and what we should
1:24.2	worry about and what we shouldn't worry about. All right, so I want to get started by
1:28.6	talking about this Gizmodo story that has a lot of people freaking out. It's titled,
1:33.2	Trump just dismissed the people in charge of maintaining our nuclear
1:36.0	arsenal and explains that the Trump transition team told the head of the
1:39.8	National Nuclear Security Administration to clear out their desks.
1:43.4	Tom, what's going on and should we be worried?
1:46.0	Well, that story, first, of course, Matthew,
	...

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