WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump has said the United States has some “incredible” nuclear weapons systems that no one knows about, but he refuted accusations of leaking classified information about them to a renowned investigative journalist in his next book.
Written by American journalist Bob Woodward, the book ‘Rage’ to be released on September 15 has sparked several controversies surrounding the Trump presidency, weeks before the US elections to be held on November 3.
According to excerpts from the book published by The Washington Post, Trump during an interview with Woodward said: “I have built a nuclear system, a weapons system that nobody had had before in this country. We have things that you have not even seen or heard. We have things that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and (the Chinese president) Xi Jinping never heard of before. There is no one, what we have is incredible. ”
“Woodward writes that anonymous people later confirmed that the US military had a secret new weapons system, but did not provide details, and that people were surprised that Trump had revealed it,” The Washington Post said.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, Trump denied having spoken about classified information about US nuclear weapons.
“We have great weaponry. No, I am not talking about classified (information). I’m talking on what we build. We are building great weapons, “the president said when asked if he shared classified information about a nuclear weapons system with Woodward.
“What were you talking about when you talked about it?” Trump was asked.
“Our military is stronger now than ever. We spent $ 2.5 trillion on our military over the last three and a half years. We now have new rockets and missiles. And frankly, our nuclear power – we have to. I hope we never have to use it. But our nuclear power is now in the best shape it has been in decades, “he said.
Trump told reporters that the United States has some nuclear systems that no one knows about.
“And frankly, I think it’s best to keep it that way. We have some amazing systems,” he said.
James Acton, co-director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s nuclear policy program, tweeted that Trump may have mentioned a 2017 announcement of a plan to reduce the explosive power of some nuclear warheads in missiles launched from submarines.
“The timing was kept a secret. I assume Trump told Woodward about the first deployment before it was made public. This weapon is generally called the low-yield D5 (because the missile is the sea-launched Trident D5 ballistic missile). warhead is W76-2, “he tweeted Thursday.
“I don’t think America can secretly build a really new nuclear weapon. Too much money for classified budgets. Too many people involved for it not to leak,” Acton said in another tweet.
Meanwhile, addressing a public rally in Michigan on Thursday, Trump claimed that he did not leak any information and claimed that he only wanted to inform people that the United States has the largest weaponry in the world.
“I said, we have systems and missiles and rockets and military, we have systems that you’ve never seen before. President (Chinese) Xi (Jinping) has nothing like it. Russian President (Vladimir) Putin has nothing like it.
“They (the media) said that he could be giving classified information. These people are sick. Never speak well of our technology … I just want people to know that we have the best systems, the best equipment and the best people anywhere. place”. in the world. There is no one like the United States military, “Trump told the crowd.
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