President Donald Trump is denying a report from Axios that claimed he wants to nuke hurricanes in order to neutralise them. Trump has called out Axios by name and insists that he “never said this,” according to a tweet sent earlier today from the G7 summit in France.
Axios published an article this week about a meeting President Trump had with officials at the Department of Homeland Security who were taken aback by the president’s idea. Trump reportedly asked why the U.S. couldn’t just drop nuclear bombs on hurricanes, an idea that was seriously considered in the 1950s before being abandoned. The line of questioning apparently stunned government officials in the room but they replied that someone would look into it.
“You could hear a gnat fart in that meeting. People were astonished. After the meeting ended, we thought, ‘What the fuck? What do we do with this?’” an unnamed source told Axios.
Trump, or perhaps one of his staff, sent a tweet denying the story, calling it “fake news”—a term that he often uses for reports that he doesn’t like.
The story by Axios that President Trump wanted to blow up large hurricanes with nuclear weapons prior to reaching shore is ridiculous. I never said this. Just more FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2019
President Trump, a man whose grip on reality appears to be slipping even more with each passing day, was supposed to be in a meeting about climate change, the oceans, and biodiversity shortly before the tweet was sent. The Trump regime has reportedly been angry that the G7 meeting is focusing on issues like climate change and gender equality, calling them “niche” issues. Trump would like to be talking more about national security and the economy, two issues that he believes are his strong suit.
It’s not clear if Trump was simply late to the climate change meeting or if he skipped it altogether, and Trump did not respond when asked, according to Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs. The other world leaders were reportedly all there on time, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
A photo from the Associated Press shows Trump absent from the meeting.
Typically, the end of an important summit like the G7 includes a joint statement from the world leaders about what they accomplished and what they’d like to do moving forward. But the host of this year’s G7, President Macron, has said that he’s not even going to bother with a joint statement, calling it “pointless,” after President Trump withdrew his name from a similar statement in Canada last year.
President Trump is increasingly isolated on the world stage, as foreign news outlets question his bizarre behaviour. Trump’s unhinged actions in the past week have drawn concerns that he may do something incredibly dangerous. Trump recently cancelled a meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark because she called his idea to buy Greenland “absurd,” and on Friday, President Trump sent out a tweet saying that he “hereby ordered” American companies to stop doing business with China. Some people assumed it was a joke, but Trump followed up with another tweet that indicated he was serious and believed that he had the power to actually order private companies to stop.
President Trump did meet with Chancellor Merkel today and rambled on about how his resort in Miami, Florida would be an ideal location for the next G7 meeting because it has a “great location” and “great facilities.”
“We haven’t made a final decision but it’s right next to the airport and it’s a great place. It’s got tremendous acreage,” Trump told reporters. “We love the location of the hotel and we also like the fact that it’s right next to the airport and it’s Miami.”
Hosting the next G7 meeting at a location that would funnel money directly to the president is highly unethical, but that goes without saying. Almost everything Trump does these days is unethical, but the so-called opposition party, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, refuses to do anything to stop him.
The president ended the press conference with the German leader by saying that he was honoured to have been invited to Berlin by Merkel, but didn’t say when he’d be visiting the country.
“I have German in my blood,” Trump said. Trump has previously claimed that his dad was born in Germany, though that’s not true. Trump’s father was born in New York, but his grandfather came from Germany. It’s not clear if President Trump was intentionally lying about this fact or if he’s simply losing his mind. But it doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. The American people are in serious danger as long as Trump stays in power, whatever the cause.