In a week where Donald Trump’s foreign policy credentials have come under fire, President Barack Obama has decided to weigh in. Obama criticized Trump’s recent comments about not ruling out the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the Korean Peninsula and Europe.
Trump first caused a stir on Tuesday during an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper where he said:
“Japan is better if it protects itself against this maniac of North Korea […] we are better off frankly if South Korea is going to start protecting itself … they have to protect themselves or they have to pay us.”
In a Donald Trump interview with Chris Matthews, the MSNBC host repeatedly asked about whether Trump would use nuclear weapons in the Middle East or Europe, Trump said:
“I’m not going to use nuclear, but I’m not taking any cards off the table.” Trump has maintained that his foreign policy goals require an element of unpredictability.”
President Obama’s comments came on Friday afternoon at a press conference during the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit in Washington DC.
“The person who made the statements doesn’t know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean peninsula or the world generally […]We don’t want somebody in the Oval Office who doesn’t recognize how important that is.”
The biannual conference was boycotted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, ending the possibility of further nuclear arms reductions between the United States and Russia. Recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris, prompted the summit to add an additional session on nuclear security and terrorism.
Obama sought to reassure Japanese and Korean officials who expressed concern at the comments of the Republican frontrunner. Nuclear security and nonproliferation have been cornerstones of President Obama’s foreign policy. He has fought passionately for these causes and remains committed to the cause of working towards a “world without nuclear weapons.”
