Setting Nuclear Policy by Tweet?

This letter to the editor was originally published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jan. 1, 2017.

Is Donald Trump clever like a fox? Or does he have no idea what he is doing? People around the world are entertained, angered and above all confused by his tweets.

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

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 22, 2016

But when it comes to existential issues like nuclear policy, confusion can be very dangerous. Does he know that, under congressional pressure, the Obama administration has been designing a family of tactical nuclear weapons that would be easier to use? Is he aware of the design of new delivery mechanisms, like cruise missiles, that would carry nukes?

The last thing this world needs is a new nuclear arms race. Instead, wouldn’t it be great if the president-elect could collaborate with Russian President Vladimir Putin and continue the work of the New Start Treaty? Further reduction of the number of U.S. and Russian nuclear warheads, and their delivery devices, is what the world really needs.