Former President Trump has issued a stark warning about the threat posed by nuclear weapons, describing them as “big monsters” capable of ending the world.
Speaking to Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” Trump emphasized that these destructive weapons are humanity’s greatest threat, far surpassing concerns about climate change.
“The greatest [threat] is sitting on shelves in various countries called ‘nuclear weapons’ that are big monsters that can blow your heads off for miles and miles and miles,” Trump warned.
Trump criticized the enormous spending on nuclear programs, noting that despite the financial burden, the devastating potential of these weapons remains unmatched.
“We spend a lot of money on nuclear weapons — the level of destruction is beyond anything you can imagine,” he said, adding that if such weapons were ever used, “it’s probably the end of the world.”
Pushing back against those who claim climate change is the greatest existential threat, Trump argued that nuclear weapons pose a far more immediate danger.
“I watched [former President Joe Biden] for years say the existential threat is from the climate,” Trump remarked. “I said ‘No.’”
“They talk about the climate and they talk about the dangers of the climate but they don’t talk about the dangers of a nuclear weapon, which could happen tomorrow,” he added.
Trump highlighted that Russia possesses the largest stockpile of nukes globally, while China is rapidly advancing in its nuclear capabilities. He predicted that China could rival Russia’s arsenal within a decade.
The former president stressed his desire to revive arms control talks with Russia and China, expressing hope that all three nations could agree to cut their vast defense budgets in half.
“There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons — we already have so many,” Trump said last month. “You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.”
He added that his efforts to engage in nuclear talks would follow steps to stabilize conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.
