Donald Trump wants to 'eliminate' nuclear weapons

(CLO) US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he supports denuclearization among world powers.

"It would be great if everybody would get rid of their nuclear weapons. I know Russia and we have the largest number," Trump said. "China will be equal in four or five years. It would be great if we could get rid of them all because the power of nuclear weapons is terrible."

US President Donald Trump. Photo: WH

President Trump's remarks come amid growing tensions between the superpowers, as the US, Russia and China are all modernizing and expanding their nuclear capabilities.

This is not the first time Mr. Trump has addressed the issue. In February, speaking in the Oval Office, he criticized the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in rebuilding the US nuclear deterrent. He also expressed hope that he would win commitments from America’s rivals to cut military spending.

“There is no reason for us to continue building new nuclear weapons – we already have too many,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Trump’s views fit into a broader strategy to cut US defence spending and redirect funds to domestic priorities. He has proposed starting talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping to significantly reduce the military budget.

“One of the first meetings I want to have is with President Xi of China, President Putin of Russia. And I want to say, ‘Let’s cut our military budget in half.’ We can do it. And I think we will,” Trump said in February.

Mr Trump’s call for a resumption of arms control talks is reminiscent of past efforts to bring China into nuclear agreements — a goal Mr Trump failed to achieve in his first term, when the US and Russia negotiated an extension of the New START treaty.

China has long opposed such talks, arguing that Washington and Moscow should cut their own arsenals before asking Beijing to do the same.

Although the US and Russia have possessed huge arsenals since the Cold War, Mr. Trump predicted that China would catch up in nuclear capabilities "within the next 5-6 years."

Cao Phong (according to Newsweek, Politico)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/ong-donald-trump-muon-loai-bo-vu-khi-hat-nhan-post337471.html