Sixty per cent of Americans say they don’t trust Donald Trump with nuclear weapons, and more than half are worried he’ll needlessly launch one.
Overall, just 38 per cent believe the president will appropriately manage his power to let missiles fly toward U.S. adversaries.
Among the six in 10 who disagree, 88 per cent are ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ concerned Trump will start an unjustified war with the weapons of mass destruction.
Combined, that amounts to 52.8 per cent who see Trump as an irresponsible custodian of the U.S. arsenal who might provoke a nuclear holocaust.
60 per cent of Americans told pollsters that they don’t think Trump can be trusted with nuclear weapons
The U.S. currently has 6,800 nuclear warheads; 2,800 are retired, 4,000 are stockpiled and 1,800 are actually deployed
The startling numbers come from a poll of more than 1,000 American adults conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News.
The last military nuclear attack came in 1945 when the U.S. hastened the end of World War II with this explosion above Nagasaki, Japan
This month the president sparked global concerns about America’s nuclear posture when he attacked North Korea’s dictator in a tweet about his ‘nuclear button.’
‘North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times”,’ Trump tweeted.
‘Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!’
In October 2017 NBC News reported that he told military leaders in July that he wanted to grow America’s nuclear capability by 1,000 per cent.
Trump immediately cried foul.
‘Fake @NBCNews made up a story that I wanted a “tenfold” increase in our U.S. nuclear arsenal. Pure fiction, made up to demean,’ he blasted.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un said this month that he has a nuclear button on his desk
Trump responded by saying his button was bigger – ‘and my button works!’
Trump has disputed an NBC News report that claimed he asked his military advisers to boost the nation’s nuclear capability by 1,000 per cent
The poll also found 70 per cent of Americans think Trump’s behavior in office has been ‘unpresidential.’ Just 28 per cent thought it has been ‘fitting and proper.’
Americans are split, 48-47, on the question of whether he’s ‘mentally stable,’ with a slight edge going Trump’s way.
The poll was conducted January 15-18 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.