Report: Trump suggests nuking hurricanes before they reach America's shores
President Trump suggested recently to drop nuclear bombs into the eyes of hurricanes to stop the storms from reaching America’s shores, news site Axios reported on Sunday.
During a hurricane briefing, Trump asked if it were possible to disrupt hurricanes forming off the coast of Africa by dropping a nuclear bomb in the eye of the storm, the news site wrote. Axios did not say when the briefing took place.
President Trump reportedly suggested nuking hurricanes to prevent them from hitting U.S. https://t.co/Pw7msLMfBe pic.twitter.com/rsfG2UjWEz
— Complex (@Complex) August 26, 2019
“They start forming off the coast of Africa, as they’re moving across the Atlantic, we drop a bomb inside the eye of the hurricane and it disrupts it, Trump said. “Why can’t we do that?”
It is reportedly not the first time Trump made such a suggestion. In 2017, Trump asked a senior official whether the administration should bomb hurricanes to prevent them making landfall.
.@TomCottonAR: “I’m the one who suggested to @realDonaldTrump that he should drop nuclear bombs on hurricanes.”@LindseyGrahamSC: “Americans will just have to accept the pain that comes with radiation poisoning when Trump nukes a hurricane to save Mar-a-Lago.” https://t.co/EgilLXuQ1e
— Col. Morris Davis (@ColMorrisDavis) August 25, 2019
The White House briefer “was knocked back on his heels,” a source said.
Axios asked how the briefer reacted to the suggestion, the source said he said something to the effect of, “Sir, we’ll look into that.”
Official on Trump's idea to nuke hurricanes: "His objective is not bad" https://t.co/dOLYiRByx4 pic.twitter.com/khg70mKF9V
— The Hill (@thehill) August 26, 2019
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has written a passage dedicated to the concept of why bombing of any sort would not be feasible.
Not only would a bomb not alter a storm, the wind would quickly spread radioactive fallout over nearby land, NOAA added.
“Needless to say, this is not a good idea,” the NOAA said.
This will all be worth it for the McNaughton painting of Trump nuking a hurricane from his tower in Greenland.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) August 26, 2019
Bret Gibson is a TribLive digital producer. A South Hills resident, he started working for the Trib in 1998. He can be reached at bgibson@triblive.com.
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