How Trump Will Start the Nuclear War (Revelation 15)

The President’s Power to Start a Nuclear War

 

President Trump when asked what he meant when he said, “We’ll see” in response to a question about potentially attacking North Korea over its nuclear tests. Pete Marovich for The New York Times

To the Editor:

Re “One Finger on the Button Is Too Few” (editorial, Oct. 12):

Questions have been raised about a psychiatric diagnosis for President Trump, and about whether one can even be made in the absence of direct examination. But these are the wrong questions. The only question that must be asked now is whether Mr. Trump, with his apparent inability to control his hair-trigger rage and his absolute and unstoppable authority to order the killing of millions of people, presents an existential threat to our country and the world.

Given the abundant evidence that the answer to this question may be yes, the legislation proposed to prevent Mr. Trump from launching a first nuclear strike without a congressional declaration of war is a logical step. The Times suggests further that the secretaries of defense and state be required to approve the launch. But Mr. Trump, who often listens to no one but himself and ignores laws, could try to override Congress and his secretaries.

The only way to prevent a potential catastrophe is for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to secretly order military commanders to check with him and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson before executing any nuclear launch order from Mr. Trump, as was done by Defense Secretary James Schlesinger when Richard Nixon was dangerously unstable at the end of his presidency.

ERIC CHIVIAN, BOSTON

The writer, a psychiatrist, is a co-founder of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

To the Editor:

The Times’s understandable alarms about President Trump and nuclear weapons imply that there is no check on that raw power to order a nuclear strike. What is not widely known is that the president needs what amounts to the concurrence of his secretary of defense to launch nuclear weapons.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will be in the loop when and if President Trump contemplates ordering the use of nuclear weapons. The secretary (or his designated successor) must verify such an order, but — true — he cannot veto it. This verification is sufficient to ensure some internal deliberations and provides a check on presidential power.

Moreover, it is highly improbable that President Trump could issue an order to fire nuclear weapons without his national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, and his chief of staff, John Kelly, being aware of what is taking place.

The system in place beats any alternate scheme for sharing such a consequential decision — such as unrealistically requiring that congressional leaders be involved in time-urgent circumstances. It does ensure deliberation at the highest levels of the government. But there is no perfect solution.

WILLIAM E. JACKSON JR.
DAVIDSON, N.C.

The writer was executive director of the General Advisory Committee on Arms Control from 1978 to 1980.