Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, in their first of three debates, agreed Monday that the greatest threat facing the world is the proliferation of nuclear weapons but sparred over Trump’s prior comments about the nuclear capabilities of U.S. allies.
“The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear armament, nuclear weapons,” Trump said. On the question of a potential U.S. nuclear no-first-use policy, he added: “I would certainly not do first strike. I think that once the nuclear alternative happens, it’s over. At the same time, we have to be prepared. I can’t take anything off the table.”
Meanwhile, Clinton criticized Trump’s previous comments suggesting he would support U.S. allies’ development of their own nuclear weapons. “The worst part of what we’ve heard Donald say has been about nuclear weapons. He has said repeatedly that he didn’t care if other nations got nuclear weapons – Japan, South Korea, even Saudi Arabia,” Clinton said.
Trump countered that the U.S. defends countries like Japan, Germany, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia, without being fairly financially compensated. With regard to Japan, he said, “all I said is they may have to defend themselves or they have to help us out.”
“His cavalier attitude about nuclear weapons is so deeply troubling,” Clinton said, noting that the threat of terrorists acquiring nuclear material is particularly troubling. She repeated a previously used line that “a man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear codes.”
Clinton added, “I want to reassure our allies in Japan and South Korea and elsewhere that we have mutual defense treaties and we will honor them.”
