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Reuters reports:
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump called on Thursday for the country to expand its nuclear weapons capabilities until the world “comes to its senses” – a signal he may support costly efforts to modernize the aging U.S. nuclear arsenal.
During the next decade, U.S. ballistic missile submarines, bombers, and land-based missiles – the three legs of the nuclear triad – are expected to reach the end of their useful lives.
Maintaining and modernizing the arsenal is expected to cost at about $1 trillion dollars over 30 years, according to independent estimates. “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,” Trump said in a post on Twitter.
Trump, who is at his Florida resort for the Christmas holiday, gave no details about what prompted his tweet. Representatives for his transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
More from Mashable:
Trump’s bombshell, so to speak, came a day after he took part in a pair of meetings with top Pentagon officials to chat about defense strategy and trying to keep the cost down on several military projects.
Trump’s wish also contradicts treaties going back decades designed by countries all around the globe, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) which has been accepted by 191 countries, including the United States, the UK, and Russia.
The subject of the country’s nuclear arsenal —- and how fit Trump is to be at its controls — was a hot topic of debate throughout the campaign, particularly his opposition to President Obama’s deal with Iran which set benchmarks for that country to reduce its nuclear program in exchange for lifted sanctions.
The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016