Where is President Trump's "big and powerful" nuclear button?
President Donald Trump on January 3 claimed that his nuclear button is “bigger and more powerful” than that of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. So where is this button and how does it work?
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned voters to think carefully before voting to give President Donald Trump control of the US arsenal of 6,800 nuclear devices in the 2016 election.
Clinton said that her opponent in the 2016 White House race, Republican candidate Donald Trump, was not trustworthy enough to have his “finger on the nuclear button.” According to Clinton, Trump’s comments on Twitter were evidence that he should be “isolated” from the secrets of the nuclear codes and should not be given control of the US nuclear arsenal. But in the end, Donald Trump was elected president.
Nuclear button
The red button placed on the wooden box has been mistaken by many people as the nuclear button in President Trump's office. Photo: Reuters
On January 2, President Trump declared on Twitter that his nuclear button is “much bigger & more powerful” than that of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. President Trump’s comment was in response to Kim Jong-un’s previous statement that he always has a nuclear button on his desk.
President Trump's latest comments about the nuclear button have raised a series of questions about how the US leader can be stopped before he makes a rash decision that leads to terrible nuclear disasters.
NewspaperIndependentThe British newspaper once reported that on President Trump's desk in the Oval Office, the White House has a small wooden box with a red button on it. Many people mistakenly believe that this is an emergency button for the US leader to order a nuclear attack, but in fact this is just a device used by the president to summon a helper whenever he needs it. Former President Barack Obama was also seen sitting next to this button at meetings in the Oval Office when he was in office.
Experts say there is no button President Trump could press if he wanted to launch a nuclear attack.
Officer carrying nuclear briefcase accompanies President Trump. Photo: Getty
“There is no button that the president can push, no switch, no latch, nothing that a president can just walk around and say, ‘Press, I just launched a nuclear weapon,’” Krister Knapp, a senior research fellow at the University of Washington’s Department of History, told The Washington Post.CBS.
In fact, the process of launching a nuclear attack by the US President begins with opening the nuclear briefcase, also known by the nickname “the football”. However, inside this briefcase, there are no buttons as public opinion has speculated.
In fact, the process of launching a nuclear attack by the US President begins with opening the nuclear briefcase, also known by the nickname “the football”. However, inside this briefcase, there are no buttons as public opinion has speculated.
The nuclear briefcase is essentially a black leather bag that always accompanies the US president. This briefcase contains the nuclear codes, operating instructions for the emergency communications system, and communications equipment to send the codes in an emergency, regardless of where the president is.
Only the president can open the nuclear briefcase, which is locked by an electronic locking system. Inside the nuclear briefcase is another special item: an authentication card. This card is the size of a regular credit card and is nicknamed the “biscuit.” It contains the president’s identification number and personal information.
Once the parameters match and everything goes according to plan, President Trump can open the nuclear briefcase and order a nuclear attack.
Although the use of nuclear weapons is prohibited under international law, the urgency of a nuclear attack makes it difficult to prevent the US President from launching such an attack.
“It would take about a minute or two to configure and transmit information directly from the command levels to the commanders in charge of the underground nuclear launch facilities, as well as the submarines and bombers,” said Bruce Blair, a former nuclear missile launch officer.
Launch time
Former Secretary of State Clinton once revealed that it would take the US about “four minutes” to launch nuclear weapons after receiving the president's order.
Meanwhile, a 2013 report by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research said intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) could be launched within five minutes of a presidential order.
The US Minuteman ICBM, which carries a nuclear warhead, is named for its ability to launch within minutes.
Who can control?
The nuclear briefcase is always with the US President in all situations. Photo: AFP
Ultimately, the sole authority to order a nuclear strike remains with the president, said Mark Fitzpatrick, a nonproliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington.
“There are no checks and balances on the president's authority to launch a nuclear attack,” Mr Mark told the BBC.
However, the US military and congressmen have also stepped in to request a review of the US president's nuclear attack launch mechanism.
In November 2017, the commander of the US Strategic Command, Air Force General John Hyten, declared that he would oppose President Trump's order to launch a nuclear attack if he believed the order was illegal.
However, retired Air Force General Robert Kehler, former commander of the US Strategic Command, said he did not know what would happen if President Trump decided to ignore the request from the military and unilaterally launch a nuclear attack.
Meanwhile, Massachusetts Republican Senator Ed Markey has proposed a bill that would require congressional approval before the President launches the use of nuclear weapons.
US arsenal
The United States is estimated to spend about $1 trillion on a 30-year program to maintain and modernize its nuclear arsenal of ballistic missile submarines, bombers and land-based missiles, a figure most experts say Washington cannot afford.
Russia is also implementing a program to modernize its nuclear arsenal, but has pledged not to expand the number of nuclear warheads.
More than 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons belong to Russia and the United States, although both countries have cut production and limited their arsenals since the Cold War. President Trump has said he would encourage Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia to also acquire nuclear weapons to reduce their dependence on the United States.