Wednesday morning, Donald Trump started his day off just like any normal bizarre despot, with tweets celebrating the world’s fear and outrage at his nuclear threats toward North Korea. He retweeted Fox & Friends on Twitter no less than three times for their breathless coverage of his manly escapades. But in the middle of his bluster, Trump forgot once again that the internet is a forever place, where no facts are ever lost, except to the swirling vortex of a Trump supporter’s mind.
Perhaps he was relying on that very fact — that his supporters will believe anything he says — when he made a claim about his first order as president. In a pair of tweets continuing the theme of the day, Trump asserted that he was responsible for the modernization of our nuclear program:
My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017
…Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 9, 2017
Unfortunately for Trump, he’s wrong on two counts. Not only was that not his first order — that was on Obamacare — but it wasn’t even him that began the renovation and modernization process. That would be the guy before him. Ben Rhodes, the former foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama, was quick to point out Trump’s lie:
It’s literally impossible for Trump to have changed our nuclear arsenal in 6 months. Alarming thing to lie about. https://t.co/9cizhVLJAU
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 9, 2017
So we all have to rally around the leader because he decided to threaten North Korea with nuclear destruction. Get ready for more of this. https://t.co/P5STDMVWMy
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 9, 2017
Boasting about the size of our nuclear arsenal and sending aides out to demand we rally around the leader is chilling. And it’s only month 7
— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) August 9, 2017
It’s not the first time Trump has lied about things he’s done, and it certainly won’t be the last. But the fact that this is a lie about nukes makes it a little more alarming and indicates that Trump truly doesn’t understand the gravity of the situation. Already, we’re seeing reports from aides saying that Trump wasn’t actually serious in making his nuclear threats. But this isn’t something to be taken lightly.
What’s more, there’s plenty of reason to be concerned about the very first thing Trump did do regarding our nuclear arsenal, in case anyone’s forgotten. He put a guy he beat in the primary by calling him a dumbass in charge of it.
Read more:
- Trump Aides Scramble, Say Donald Trump’s Threats Weren’t Serious, ‘Just His Mood’
- IT’S ON: Toddler Trump Hears Critical McConnell Statements, Promptly Starts To Lose It (TWEETS)
- Tired Old Man Announces Plans To Take A 3-Day Vacation From His Vacation
Featured image via Pete Souza/Getty/White House Handout
