Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., believes that people should be “terrified” about President-elect Trump’s ability to initiate a nuclear attack, citing the power he will have to launch a nuclear strike when he takes office in January. Markey, along with Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., are urging President Biden to put “guardrails on presidential authority to start nuclear war.”
Trump, who served as president from 2017 to 2021, never used nuclear weapons during his tenure. He has also expressed his concerns about the dangers posed by nuclear weapons, describing them as a “single biggest threat by far to civilization.”
However, Markey’s claim that Trump will have sole authority to launch a nuclear strike has been met with skepticism. Those who have responded to his post have pointed out that Trump already had the power to launch a nuclear strike during his previous presidency and did not use it.
Markey and Lieu have long advocated for a shift in policy, calling for the president to require congressional authorization before launching a nuclear first strike. They have introduced legislation to achieve this goal, known as the Restricting First Use of Nuclear Weapons Act, which would prohibit any U.S. president from launching a nuclear first strike without prior congressional approval.
The lawmakers have urged President Biden to take action before he leaves office, calling on him to announce a policy that would require presidential authorization for any nuclear first strike.
