TEHRAN, August 9, YJC -US President Donald Trump has touted the strength of the US nuclear arsenal, saying the country’s nuclear weapons are “more powerful than ever,” amid escalating tensions with North Korea.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Trump said his first presidential order was to modernize the US nuclear arsenal, but said he hoped it would never be used.
"My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before," Trump wrote on Twitter.
"Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!"
Trump ordered the Pentagon to review ways to modernize and strengthen US nuclear capabilities in January, though it is not clear if it was his "first order as president," as he claims.
The US Defense Department started a review of the new nuclear policy in April but it is unlikely that any major changes or improvements have taken place since the review started.
Trump’s comments came a day after he warned North Korea that any threat to the United States would be met with "fire and fury".
"And as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before," he said.
Just hours after Trump made the threat, North Korea said it is considering plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam.
US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said on Saturday the United States is preparing for all options, including a “preemptive war,” to stop North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
The Washington Post, quoting parts of a Defense Intelligence Agency analysis, reported Tuesday that North Korea crossed a major threshold by successfully producing “nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery."
North Korea carried out two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles last month. Pyongyang claimed that its latest missile, test-fired on July 4, can deliver a "large, heavy nuclear warhead" to the US mainland.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Saturday slapping sweeping sanctions on the North following the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile.
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