The danger of Trump's tweet 'showing off' the nuclear button

After North Korean leader Kim Jong-un asserted in his New Year's speech on January 1 that the nuclear button is always on his desk, US President Donald Trump immediately responded. On Twitter on January 2, the head of the White House emphasized that he "also has a nuclear button, but it is much bigger and more powerful" than the North Korean leader.

The US President's comments have been met with a fair amount of opposition. Trump's critics say his Twitter diplomacy is bad enough, but his nuclear strategy via Twitter is much worse and could lead to dire consequences. Analysts fear his actions could affect the US's relationship with countries around the world, even leading to a nuclear war, according toUSA Today.

"President Trump's latest tweets will convince world leaders that he is not only unstable and unreliable, but downright dangerous," said nuclear policy expert Joe Cirincione.

For Eliot Cohen, a senior official in the George W. Bush administration, Trump’s response to the tweet “showing off” the nuclear button was “like a 10-year-old,” he said. Kori Schake, a former official at the US National Security Council, said this “childishness” was “dangerous” in terms of foreign policy, and it became especially dangerous when it came to countries with nuclear weapons.

“The president’s recklessness not only creates the risk of war, but also causes the US to lose the support of its allies in the event of an actual war,” Schake said. In addition, it will make them reluctant to share intelligence about threats with the US for fear that it could lead to unwanted conflict.

President Trump and his advisers say they want to resolve the crisis on the Korean Peninsula peacefully, but the mention of the size of the nuclear button has certainly increased anxiety both inside and outside the United States, writes David Jackson fromUSA Todaycomment

The Trump administration says it does not want to use military force, but it has never ruled out the option. In August, North Korea threatened to attack Guam, a US overseas territory, with an intercontinental ballistic missile. At the time, US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned that the human cost of a nuclear conflict “would be catastrophic.”

Trump's tweets will clearly unsettle America's allies because "they show him to be erratic and extreme," said David Rothkopf, an expert at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. "They will also provoke dangerous reactions from our enemies for the same reason," Rothkopf said.

The biggest worry now is that President Trump's bold statements could be easily misinterpreted by his opponents, leading to a serious nuclear conflict.

In 2016, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said, “A man you can fool with a tweet is a man you can’t trust with nuclear weapons.” That lack of trust could have other consequences, including weakening alliances that the US is part of, Jackson said. The US will now have a harder time achieving global goals, such as denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula or improving the international trading system.

In addition to his nuclear button announcement, President Trump added to the drama on January 2 when he implicitly called for the prosecution of former Clinton aide Huma Abedin and former FBI Director James Comey. He threatened to cut off aid to Pakistan and the Palestinian Authority. Finally, he did not forget to criticize the media.

According to Cirincione, President Trump's threatening tweets "could drive allies away from the United States, starting with South Korea and Europe, and lead adversaries to conclude that they cannot negotiate or make deals with the United States."

Analysts say US allies will inevitably feel hesitant about sharing information about military and intelligence operations with a president they see as impulsive and erratic.

Allies will be “uncomfortable,” said Julianne Smith, director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. “They can’t be sure that Trump will protect classified information to the end.”

Meanwhile, President Trump has repeatedly asserted that he will never give up Twitter because it is the best way for him to overcome the media to reach voters.

Last weekend, Trump asserted that he uses social media "not because I like it, but because it's the only way to fight back against a very dishonest and unfair media."