Fears are said to be increasing that Donald Trump could deploy a nuclear weapon on Iran as his war in the region continues.
The world is watching today as Trump’s 8pm ET deadline on Tuesday evening (00:00 GMT on Wednesday) looms into view.
The US president has warned that if Tehran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz by this time, then “a whole civilisation will die tonight.”
The threats are the latest stage in Trump’s seemingly clueless strategy in the war and certainly further proof that the president is becoming increasingly impatient.
On Monday, Trump said he was ‘not worried’ about potentially committing war crimes in Iran and has also recently warned that the entirety of Iran “can be taken out in one night.”
All this, combined with what we already know about Trump’s personality and mindset, has increased fears that the president could resort to nuclear weapons in the war.
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Writing on Monday, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent Julian Borger said: “The extremity of Trump’s threats, coupled with his growing desperation to find a way out of the conflict, has increased fears that a volatile president could try to use a nuclear weapon.”
Borger went on to explain the process in place for a US president to actually use nuclear weapons.
This would involve a security conference call of the National Military Command Center, which would “typically involve top officials such as the defence secretary, the armed forces commander, but it would depend who was available at short notice.”
A military aide who is always close to the president would then open what is known as the “nuclear football.” This is a briefcase “containing nuclear strike options as well as the codes to confirm his presidential authority.”
“The only way to stop the order would be for those in the chain of command to deem it illegal,” Borger added.
This is not the first time there have been concerns Trump could use nuclear weapons. Borger explained that back in January 2021, the then chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Mark Milley, was “so concerned about Trump’s volatility that he reportedly told his senior officers to make sure he was involved in any nuclear decision.”
Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons expert and professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said he had zero confidence that anyone in the chain of command would interven to stop Trump deploying a nuke.
“He has consistently purged the military of anybody who he thinks would stand up to him or resist him,” he said.