Calls for U.S. to 'greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability'

Trump tweeted that 'The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes.' The statement stunned nuclear arms experts and appeared to reverse decades of U.S. policy focused on nuclear nonproliferation and gradual disarmament. The tweet came the same day Vladimir Putin had called for Russia to strengthen its nuclear forces, suggesting Trump was either responding to or echoing Putin's rhetoric. Nuclear policy experts warned that Trump's casual call for expansion could trigger a new arms race and undermine treaties that had made the world safer since the Cold War.

"The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes." — Twitter post