President Trump’s comments – yet again – implying the need for a new nuclear build-up and denouncing a pivotal arms control agreement between the United States and Russia upheave decades of bipartisan policy in Washington and place the American people at risk.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hazel Correa
hcorrea@armscontrolcenter.org
202.546.0795 x2115
Washington, DC – According to a Reuters interview today, President Trump criticized the New Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (New START), a treaty limiting the number of U.S. and Russian deployed nuclear weapons, and stated that the U.S. has “fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity” and must have a “top of the pack” nuclear arsenal, yet again implying the need for a new nuclear build-up.
In response, former Congressman John Tierney, the Executive Director of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, commented,
“President Trump’s assertions about nuclear weapons policy conveniently ignore the facts. New START is not ‘one-sided,’ it equally caps the number of weapons both the U.S. and Russia can deploy, and forces Moscow to be transparent by mandating American inspections of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. Without the treaty, Russia could deploy more nuclear weapons aimed at the United States and Moscow’s transparency would become opacity.”
“Every world leader on Earth except for President Trump knows that the United States already has the ‘top of the pack’ nuclear arsenal. No U.S. military leader would trade our nuclear weapons for the Russian stockpile, let alone any other nuclear power’s arsenal. Right now, the U.S. is in the process of overhauling and maintaining our nuclear arsenal at a cost of approximately $1 trillion, an ambitious program that is partially needed, but also excessive and unsustainable. Further expanding the planned build-up would be costly and destabilizing.”
Reuters also reported that President Trump, discussing the North Korean nuclear threat, declared, “China can end it very quickly in my opinion.”
Congressman Tierney added,
“While China must play an essential role in addressing North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear weapons program, President Trump is advocating a brand of lazy leadership that will only allow for the North to continue proliferating. The status quo is not working and time is not on our side. The president should instead call for direct American diplomacy with Pyongyang, the goal being an immediate nuclear freeze and the eventual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
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Congressman John F. Tierney is available for further comment and broadcast bookings by contacting Hazel Correa at 202.546.0795 X 2115 or hcorrea@armscontrolcenter.org
The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation is a national non-partisan, non-profit dedicated to enhancing peace and security through expert policy analysis and thought-provoking research. Since 1980, the Center’s expertise on reducing the threats of war and nuclear weapons has been sought by the media and policymakers – supported by the tax-deductible contributions of foundations and individuals. www.ArmsControlCenter.org.
