Trump's bunker if America is attacked by nuclear weapons

In the event of a nuclear attack on the United States, President Donald Trump will be taken to a safe location. One of these is an underground bunker system built in the 1950s under the White House, used when the US president is in office. The other location is in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, according toBBC.

Mr. Trump also has a private bunker at his Mar-a-Lago resort, as well as a former bomb shelter at his West Palm Beach golf course. The story of President Trump’s underground bunker network reflects how Americans have dealt with the threat of nuclear attack for decades.

In reality, no bunker could withstand the blast of a direct hit by a nuclear warhead, but it would be of great use if the US leadership survived a preemptive strike. This would be a place where the US president could safely run the country, despite the destruction around the world.

Robert Darling, a US Marine who was deployed in the White House bunker, said US officials had compiled a list of important figures who could enter the bunker with the US president in the event of war.

Only a handful of people were allowed into the bunker, making social status a matter of survival. "You had to maintain the system of government, or it would be chaos," said Randy Sowell, a research specialist at the Truman Presidential Library.

Former US President Harry Truman oversaw the creation of the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) in the 1950s. The general message of the US government at the time was that "nuclear war does not mean annihilation for all".

History professor Christian Appy asserts that the FCDA created the concept of “nuclear citizenship.” Washington wanted Americans to adapt to the new reality, creating conditions for them to “accept the nuclear arms race.”

The FCDA has sought to establish a network of bunkers across the United States, including many for leaders and government employees. However, most of the shelters have been built by ordinary Americans, including Marjorie Merriweather Post, who built a bunker beneath her Mar-a-Lago resort.

President Trump purchased the mansion and bunker in 1985. He said the underground facility is very sturdy, "anchored to the coral bedrock with steel and concrete."

However, the ceiling of this bunker is quite low, forcing people over 1.9 meters tall to stoop to enter. The interior of the Mar-a-Lago bunker is quite dark and damp. Fold-out beds are mounted on the walls, and the rooms all have manually operated devices to provide oxygen.

In the 1950s, the US government also developed a contingency plan for the US president, in case of a destructive war with the Soviet Union. Officials wanted to choose a secret location, large enough to build a complex of works serving the US government. The underground bunker was located only 80 km from Washington, DC, inside the 534 m high Weather Mountain.

The Weather Mountain bunker is operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A former FEMA director revealed that it was activated after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This is where President Trump could take refuge in case of a preemptive attack. "It's a relatively remote and secret location. It has many helipads," said people living around the Weather Mountain bunker.

In the fall of 1961, the US government continued to build an underground bunker on Peanut Island, Florida, for President John F. Kennedy. It was located quite close to the Mar-a-Lago resort and only about 10 minutes from Kennedy's villa. This place was called the "Detachment Hotel", and the construction cost was about $97,000, equivalent to nearly $800,000 today.

President Kennedy visited the island several times. "He used to do evacuation drills," said Anthony Miller, owner of a museum on Peanut Island.

The US president’s bunkers, whether located on Weather Mountain, Peanut Island or Mar-a-Lago, were all built during the Cold War. All were designed to prepare for the worst-case scenario, when the commander-in-chief of the US military needed a safe haven in the event of global nuclear war.