Former President Donald Trump warned about the potential for nuclear weapons to be used and suggested there was a risk of it happening during the current Israel conflict.
In criticizing President Joe Biden, Trump has said that people weren’t discussing the potential use of nuclear weapons when he was in office. Trump has juxtaposed that with elevated concerns about nuclear weapons use and during the town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday, the former president said it was the biggest issue the world is currently facing.
“The level of power of nuclear weapons is incredible. Take Hiroshima or take Nagasaki and that was many, many decades ago and multiply that times 500, that’s what a big bomb would be today,” Trump said. “Whether it’s Israel or major countries, nuclear weapons are the biggest problems we have.”
Israel has never confirmed that it has nuclear weapons, but comments in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks have further fueled belief that Israel is also armed with them. Revital “Tally” Gotliv, an Israeli lawmaker, called for Israel to use a “doomsday” nuclear weapon to level Gaza. Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu suggested that nuclear weapons were an option for the conflict and was subsequently suspended for his remark.
The comments drew rebukes from several countries, including Russia and Saudi Arabia. Russian Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova questioned if it was an “official declaration” that Israel has nuclear weapons and called for an inspection.
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Newsweek reached out to Trump via email for comment Tuesday night but did not receive a response in time for publication.
In June, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nuclear watchdog, warned the world was “kind of in the danger zone” when it came to the potential for nuclear war. The scientists pointed to the war between Russia and Ukraine. The “Doomsday Clock” was set at 90 seconds to midnight, the highest it’s ever been, including during the Cold War.
“It used to be 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even 3 years ago, you couldn’t mention the word ‘nuclear.’ Now it’s being mentioned at every meeting, every time you talk, it’s being mentioned,” Trump said on Tuesday.
In October, the Pentagon announced that it was working on building a new nuclear bomb to replace America’s aging stockpile. The B61-13, a new variant of the B61 gravity bomb, would have an explosive yield similar to that of the B61-7 variant, which is 360 kilotons.
If accurate, the latest bomb would have 22 times the explosive force of the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II.
The Department of Defense credited the newest bomb with being able to give the president more options for attacks on certain difficult and large-area military targets.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.