NEWSDonald Trump Discussed Using A Nuclear Weapon Against North Korea & Blaming Another Country, New Book Alleges
Jan. 12 2023, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
During his presidency, Donald Trump apparently discussed using a nuclear weapon against North Korea — but he would blame another country for the act instead of taking responsibility, a new book called Donald Trump v. the United States, which was written by Michael Schmidt, alleged.
Trump allegedly made the comments in 2017 when tensions were at an all-time high between the U.S. and North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.
At the time, then-White House chief of staff John Kelly was taken aback by the president's remarks.
Schmidt cites dozens of interviews on background with former Trump administration officials and others who worked with Kelly in the new tome. (Kelly left his job in January 2019.)
When Kelly arrived on the job in 2017, Trump, 76, sent a message to North Korea, even threatening to destroy their country.
Though Trump frequently bashed North Korea on Twitter, Kelly was nervous for what was happening in private.
"What scared Kelly even more than the tweets was the fact that behind closed doors in the Oval Office, Trump continued to talk as if he wanted to go to war. He cavalierly discussed the idea of using a nuclear weapon against North Korea, saying that if he took such an action, the administration could blame someone else for it to absolve itself of responsibility," the book reads.
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"It’d be tough to not have the finger pointed at us," Kelly told Trump, according to Schmidt.
Kelly then resorted to bringing in the military's top leaders to the White House to discuss how a war between the U.S. and North Korea could easily erupt. However, the mention of people potentially being killed had "no impact on Trump," Schmidt writes.
Kelly tried to reason that the economy would be affected, but Trump "would turn back to the possibility of war, including at one point raising to Kelly the possibility of launching a preemptive military attack against North Korea," Schmidt said.
Kelly warned Trump he would need to get approval before attacking North Korea, which left him "baffled and annoyed," the book reads.
NBC News reported on the book.
