President Donald Trump’s infamous Twitter page is something we all were hoping would be left behind in 2017. But that was not the case for the new year.
On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted in response to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s statement that North Korea has a “nuclear button” that could strike the United States, according to the Associated Press. Taking to his favorite social media platform, the President raised many eyebrows with his boastful tweet: “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the ‘Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.’ Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”
North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2018
The President’s tweet ignited a significant response from people on Twitter and other social media platforms, according to The New York Times. From celebrities to everyday citizens, many were quick to notice the danger of the President tweeting such posturing statements.
Berkeley professor Robert Reich was one of the countless people to notice how the President’s Twitter page could spark threats of nuclear war in a matter of minutes: “This madman is still the single most powerful person on the planet, with the ability to order the destruction of the world in just over four minutes.”
This madman is still the single most powerful person on the planet, with the ability to order the destruction of the world in just over four minutes. https://t.co/XIKB23NKQM
— Robert Reich (@RBReich) January 3, 2018
One issue with President Trump’s tweet is his claim that he possess a “nuclear button”, which he actually doesn’t have. William Safire told The New York Times columnist Richard Goldman that the term “nuclear button” can trace its origins back to the World War II era, from the phrase “finger on the button”. This phrase was used to refer to the panic buttons used in WWII bomber planes, which pilots would press to signal to crew members to evacuate the plane, Safire told Goldman. Trump’s nuclear button is not an actual, physical thing.
The President’s tweet is yet another one of his many empty statements. However, this time the empty claim is about nuclear war, which is very serious and not something to joke about. If this tweet is merely President Trump’s way of bragging about his power and the measures he will take to assert that power, he is putting the American people — and the rest of the world — at risk of nuclear war to satisfy his own ego.