Lawmakers, US allies seek assurance that Trump won’t rashly launch nuclear

The following article by Jim Acosta and Barbara Starr was posted on the CNN website November 14, 2017:

(CNN) — A decades-old presidential authority to use nuclear weapons is suddenly coming into question as US allies and some lawmakers from both parties want the Trump administration to assure them that President Donald Trump cannot rashly launch a nuclear strike, according to multiple sources.

The potential that Trump could use existing law to authorize the deployment of a nuclear weapon on his own is becoming the subject of frequent conversation — and bipartisan anxiety — on Capitol Hill. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker will hold a hearing Tuesday on the authority of the President to maintain sole authority to launch nuclear weapons.

It’s a big day on Capitol Hill: Follow along live

A NATO partner country raised concerns about the President’s command of the US launch system. A diplomatic source from that country said they were more comfortable following a briefing on the subject.

“The more people think about this, the more they realize Donald Trump can start a nuclear war,” Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who sits on the Foreign Relations panel, said in an interview.

View the post here.