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An important but less conspicuous part of the new president’s inauguration is the transfer of command and control of the US nuclear arsenal. However, President Trump will likely not attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Trump declined to answer questions about whether he attended Biden’s inauguration, but it has been reported that he will not attend his successor’s swearing-in and will instead hold a political event elsewhere.
The situation is unprecedented
So what will happen to the “nuclear ball”, the black briefcase that often appears next to the president, if Trump does not appear? How will Biden be delivered?
“It’s a very good question and also an unprecedented situation,” Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the American Association of Scientists, told Insider.
The president has the sole authority to launch a nuclear strike, and wherever he is, he always has a military assistant with him. This person will carry the so-called “presidential emergency briefcase”, or more commonly, the “nuclear ball”.
Every American president since the time of John F. Kennedy has always been accompanied by an aide who carries an “energy briefcase,” which gives the “commander-in-chief” the ability to direct America’s nuclear forces in any way. tens of thousands of kilometers from command and control centers.
The buttonless case can instantly fire hundreds of nuclear warheads deployed on ICBMs, submarine-launched missiles and strategic bombers. Instead, the suitcase contains communication tools, codes, and options for a nuclear war.
In addition to the “nuclear ball,” presidents also carry a card, sometimes called a “cookie,” which contains identification codes. In the event of a nuclear conflict, the president will use these codes along with the tools in his briefcase to identify himself with the military and order a nuclear strike.
Presidents-elect are often informed of their nuclear responsibilities before they are sworn in. On the day of the inauguration, the codes they receive that morning or the day before go into effect, and control of the “nuclear ball” is quietly and smoothly transferred to the new general. system.
In an interview with ABC News in 2017, President Trump once described this moment as “cold and scary.”
The Pentagon already has a script
The transfer of the “nuclear ball” is said to take place at noon when the new president is sworn in. The military aide, who is carrying the nuclear briefcase, will hand it over to his new military aide, former Vice President Dick Cheney said in a Discovery documentary. This tradition takes place on the sidelines, not as part of the event.
If President Trump does not attend the inauguration of his successor, the transition will be different. However, the transfer should take place immediately, according to retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Buzz Patterson, who once carried a nuclear suitcase for President Bill Clinton. How this happens will depend on the floor in the south corner.
A Pentagon spokesperson told Insider that the Defense Department had plans for a transition on Inauguration Day, but declined to release details.
“We already have a design for this and have done it year after year. Systems are in place to ensure the transfer takes place immediately. There is also no doubt who will retain it, who will be responsible for it at the time of delivery. We do not take this lightly. There is no interruption. It will be, ”said Patterson.
Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert with the American Association of Scientists, said the plan could resemble plans drawn up in the event of the sudden death or incapacity of a president. Nuclear command and control and other associated equipment should be immediately transferred to the particular vice president or survivor.
Stephen Schwartz, a principal investigator from the United States, recently spoke with the Center for Arms Control and Disarmament about what might happen to the nuclear briefcase if Trump did not attend the inauguration ceremony. successor.
According to Schwartz, there is not just one nuclear briefcase, but at least three of those planes, for the president, for the vice president, and for specific survivors.
The nuclear briefcase for the new president will be prepared before the inauguration. There will be a military aide ready and always by Biden’s side as soon as he takes office. At that point, Trump’s nuclear command and control would also expire.
“Hopefully President Trump will be there and it will be a transition like it has been for decades,” Patterson said.
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